The Bike Hut Foundation, a non-profit organization that operates a bike shop on Pier 40 in San Francisco, is starting a new initiative to help remove lead from the environment. Wheel-balancing weights that fall from automobiles and trucks remain a significant source of toxic metal pollution. In urban areas, these pieces of lead are abraded and ground up as they are run over by traffic. Outside of cities, they contribute to run-off water pollution. Although state legislation to phase out lead in wheel-balancing weights is pending, there are tens of millions of pounds of lead currently in use on vehicles. For more detailed information on the problems associated with wheel-balancing weights, please see the following:
What Is the Problem With Lead Wheel Balancing?
Our initiative is to operate a program that will use the large San Francisco bicycling community to collect and recycle the lead weights found on the side of roadways in the Bay Area. Our goal for this year is to remove at least 1000 pounds in twelve months while raising public awareness of the danger that these weights represent.
Cyclists will be asked to pick up the weights using re-sealable plastic bags, avoiding skin contact. Collection buckets will be displayed at the Bike Hut and other bike shops that have agreed to participate in the program. Bike Hut staff and volunteers will collect the lead from the other shops periodically and bring the weights to a certified metal recycler / refiner. As an incentive, people who bring the weights to the Bike Hut directly will be eligible to receive rewards, such as a tire patch kit for ten weights or a new inner tube for 25 weights.
The Bike Hut at Pier 40 (Embarcadero and Townsend) has been involved in recycling and waste-stream diversion for 13 years through our efforts to re-use and recycle bicycle related materials. We repair, rent, and re-sell donated bicycles and parts. Unusable metal is taken to a recycler; while unpatchable tubes are supplied to artists and craftspeople.
Our other main focus is training youth in bicycle repair and maintenance with the Mayor's Youth Employment and Education Program. Additionally, we provide training and used bikes to other programs involving young people. Please note that youth will not be involved in this lead weight program.
This wheel partnership is part of the Bike Hut's new role as a participant in the EPA's National Partnership for Environmental Priorities. The success of this project will depend on our being able to publicize it as well as possible. We welcome any other bike shops, organizations, or individuals that would like to participate locally. We would also be interested working with others in spreading the concept of this project to other areas of the country. The Bike Hut Foundation is a 501(c) (3) organization.
Quick Facts about Wheel Weights from the EPA:
The National Partnership for Environmental Priorities encourages public and private organizations to form partnerships with the EPA to reduce the use or release of toxic chemicals. Lead is a chemical of concern for the EPA because it bio-accumulates in the food chain, damages ecosystems, and can cause brain damage in humans, especially children.
The EPA's goal is the partner with industries, municipalities, and federal facilities to reduce the use or release of 4 million pounds of priority chemicals by 2011. The EPA also encourages all consumers to ask their tire vendors to provide lead-free wheel weights.
The EPA is also launching a web video highlighting our "get the lead out" message geared towards the general public. There are 200 million vehicles on the nation's roadways and with about 5 ounces of lead per vehicle, over one million pounds of lead fall off each year and pollute our environment. It only takes a week for a wheel weight falling off to corrode and contaminate our environment. Every car owner can do something to get the lead out. When tires are rotated or balanced, consumers should ask their mechanics to replace the old lead ones with new steel ones.
Contact information:
The Bike Hut Foundation
Pier 40
San Francisco, CA 94107
www.TheBikeHut.com
Michael Klett, President
