Ethics
We have been asked several times about our environmental policies in the past, and about those of Campagnolo SRL.
We can't really comment on what Campagnolo do, but having visited their factory & watched their working practices, we feel confident in our own minds that they take good care of their local environment and their workforce.
For ourselves, we can be far more specific:
In keeping with the generally environmentally benign nature of bicycles when they are in use, Velotech Cycling Ltd follows the practices outlined below.
We use as much recycled packing material as practical. Whilst some might consider this to be penny-pinching and detrimental to our image, in our view using a new jiffy bag, say, when we open a whole stack of jiffy bags every week, seems wasteful on many levels. New packaging requires the consumption of both energy and raw materials, and if we don't re-use packaging, in general it has to go for landfill, consuming still more energy to get it to a landfill site. Landfill locations are becoming harder to find, and are rendered toxic for many years, quite apart from their aesthetic impact on the landscape.
We recycle as much metal as we can from the workshop.
We recycle as much paper and card as we can from our offices and workshop. In this age of electronic communication and the theoretical possibility for a truly paperless office, it's ironic when one considers the amount of paper businesses both consume and have to dispose of.
We refill our printer ink cartridges werever we can.
We try to use public transport where practical.
We try and use energy-saving lighting wherever we can.
We apply all of the relevant environmental legislation with regard to the disposal of oils and greases, rubber, plastics and other environmentally toxic materials.
We strongly support bicycle (and all other) recycling schemes!
Charitable causes
We support several charities, which we are philosophically aligned with.We support themactively, by being directly involved in their work. and we make a cash contribution to them annually, which of course is derived from our profits. Sometimes, it's more appropriate for us to ask for a customer to donate to one of the charities that we work with, than it is for us to bill them. These are the charities concerned, the links are direct to their donation pages:
Buffalo Foundation
We are priveliged to help leverage education for children in South Africa's Western Cape townships with bicycles. Velotech contributes technical training, materials and a financial donation annually.
The Woodland Trust
We are committed to working directly with the Woodland Trust to help retain as much ancient woodland in the UK as possible.
The Royal British Legion
We are proud to work with The Royal British Legion every year, to assist servicemen and women, ex-servicemen and women and their families in difficulty, following injury or death in the line of duty.
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