Sustainability Profile: BikeBike Inc.

1. What is your company's brand promise, vision or statement of values, and how does it relate to sustainability?

   Bikebike's primary aim is to inspire and empower our customers and employees to live healthier, fuller lives through the simple pleasure of riding a bicycle more often.

   Bikebike will inspire our customers and employees to make cycling an important part of their daily lives by selling and servicing bicycles and equipment that are perfectly designed for daily city use, in regular clothing - including commuting, shopping, errands, and especially for fun!

   Bikebike will empower our customers by providing educational opportunities in the form of "Learn-to-Wrench" clinics for those who wish to be more self-sufficient, as well as organizing group rides in the city for all ability levels during the warmer months.

2. How are your products or services environmentally and socially sustainable?

   Our bicycles are all designed around the simple idea of helping people get out of their cars more often. We have bikes for commuting, cargo bikes for hauling kids and groceries, folding bikes for multi-modal travel, and European style bikes for the well dressed office worker.

   We also have a selection of locally made accessories and jewelery made from recycled bike parts, locally made bike clothing, as well as accessories from suppliers who are committed to producing products from sustainable sources and using sustainable materials.

3. How do your suppliers create positive social and environmental benefits either through their products or through their community partnerships?

   Our suppliers offer bicycles and products that allow our customers to reduce their use of an automobile. For example, we offer cargo bikes that can be used for local deliveries, shuttling kids around, or simply for errands and shopping. We also try to source Canadian made products and locally produced products.

4. How does your business minimize the environmental impact of its operations?

   We employ a few strategies to reduce our impact on our environment:

   • we have invested in LED lighting in our store to reduce our electricity usage
   • we do not use any chemicals or power washers during our repair services, instead choosing bio-degreasers and elbow grease!
   • we recycle all our cardboard and paper and go so far to even recycle elastics/zip-ties/padding from new bikes for use later.
   • we use a cargo bike to take recyclables to the depot

    

5. How does your business demonstrate ethical business conduct?

   We are just starting out and are not big enough yet to warrant a Board structure or third party procedures. However, we are committed to working with integrity in all aspects of our business.

6. What strategic community partnerships does your company have in place?

   We volunteer our time during Bike To Work week in the summer to help encourage people to commute to work by bike more often. We also support BikeCalgary.org with their initiatives and are a proud member of REAP. We are also hoping to join the Uptown17th Business Association.

7. What policy or guidelines exist to support charitable contributions? Or, if no formal policy is in place, what organizations have you previously supported?

   Currently, we support BikeCalgary.org with many of their initiatives - all aimed at getting more people on bikes.

8. How many people do you employ locally?

   One. 

9. In what ways does your business demonstrate its commitment to employee health and safety?

   As we grow and hire more employees, we will offer training to them on how to teach our Learn-To-Wrench courses to customers as well as offering them the opportunity to take courses on proper city cycling techniques.

10. In what ways does your business demonstrate its commitment to employee development and job satisfaction?

    Not yet applicable.

11. How does your business support employees to lead balanced lives and be active participants in their communities?

    We will encourage our employees to get involved with local bike advocacy initiatives and to ride their bike as often as possible, as well as offer them leadership training so they can lead our group rides in the warmer months.