At Green Oil UK we take the environment seriously. We could be better, and there are challenges for the future. However, Green Oil is still the greenest chain lube around and our whole range is green. Here is how.

The Ecologist Magazine's 'Pick of the Month'

In October 2007, Green Oil was selected 'Pick of the Month' by the Ecologist Magazine. Green Oil is the only chain lube to be endorsed in this way.

For more on why the Ecologist liked Green Oil, read on...

(or see the full review by clicking on the button bellow)

100% petrochemical free

Green Oil chain lube is created from naturally occurring oils and plant extracts to provide you with the same qualities you would expect from a quality chain lubricant.

So you won't be funding Shell's dodgy operations in Nigeria and British Columbia, or Esso's climate change denial lobby.

Similarly, our cleaner uses natural cleaning chemicals instead of petrochemicals, including one found in orange peels which is a by-product of the organic orange juice industry.

This is the same throughout the Green Oil range. None of our products contain petrochemicals. Although some other products claim to be biodegradable, they are often not natural or actually 100% biodegradable. Ours are natural, so cause less harm while they biodegrade and biodegrade faster yet without sacrificing performance.

CFC Free

Green Oil products are CFC free, but CFCs were pretty much banned in 1993 under the Montreal Protocol. 'CFC free' is meaningless green wash today. Other spray lubes and degreasers contain harmful propellants and other chemicals, yet proudly say 'CFC free', usually in a green logo.

A classic baddy is an American brand of 'citrus' degreaser in a can. It boasts being 'CFC free', and even 'biodegradable in use'. Amusingly, it is technically biodegradable only because the petrochemicals dry off in less than 12 hours after use (forgetting air pollution of course), leaving a residue, most of which is biodegradable.

However, due to the nature of the residue, the product still says 'dangerous for aquatic life' and 'harmful vapor' on the tin. They should have named it 'Green Wash'! The Green Oil Green Clean and our Clean Chain degreaser are totally different. They are natural and totally biodegradable, not just 'biodegradable in use and CFC free'. And they don't contain petrochemicals, or any nanotechnology.

Biodegradable

Don't worry, it takes a long time. However, when Green Oil does eventually come off the chain, it will over time biodegrade.

Similarly the rest of the Green Oil range will only biodegrade when released into the environment. You basically need warmth, moisture, oxygen and bacteria, so it is fine when in the bottle.

Our packaging is not biodegradable, but is re-usable and recyclable. Bioplastics have their place, but re-filling and recycling is the best way for Green Oil at the moment.

Not irritant, not harmful, nor 'dangerous for the environment'

Look on most chain lube bottles and you will be disgusted to see that not only are they harmful or irritant, but that they explicitly say 'dangerous for the environment' on the back.

Green Oil is not harmful, not irritant, and not dangerous for the environment.

So Green Oil will not harm you, aquatic life or little animals.

This applies to Green Clean, Ecogrease and Clean Chain too. Even our Pedalite range is ROHS compliant, meaning the electronics used don't contain harmful heavy metals among other things.

No Teflon or PTFE

Teflon is a registered trademark of DuPont, and PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene), its chemical name. PTFE is not biodegradable. PTFE accumulates in the food chain. Teflon uses a 'likely carcinogen' in its production according to the US Environmental Protection agency.

Not tested on animals

Our range has has not been tested on animals (unless you call the various mountain and road cyclists who first tested it 'animals', which you may well do).

All our ingredients occur naturally and are safe. None of the ingredients, nor the finished product have been animal tested (in the last 20 years at least).

Green Oil contains no animal products or by-products, and is suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

Carbon footprint

Green Oil is made in the United Kingdom. So from the factory to the shop, Green Oil has a smaller carbon footprint if purchased in the UK. We avoid flying our products anywhere, and also use recycled cardboard boxes.

Ethical Banking

Green Oil UK Limited banks with the Co-operative Bank. Our funds will therefore not be invested in Burma, blood diamonds, logging companies, oil extraction or sweatshops. This is due to the bank's unique Ethical Policy.

This is important. One major high-street bank invests in Burma - supporting the brutal oppression of people. Others bank role arms companies who sell arms to Apartheid Israel, Saudi Arabia and other dodgy regimes, and who then lobby the government to keep arms controls weak. Many banks invest in those logging companies trashing the Amazon rainforests. Ask your bank where your money is invested.

Bad companies have to get their money from somewhere, but can't get their money from the Co-operative Bank. Or therefore Green Oil UK Limited.

Recyclable, and Re-usable

Reduce, re-use, recycle the saying goes. Green Oil's bottle can not only be recycled with your plastic milk bottles (they are both made out of 'HDPE'), but can also be re-used.

Having purchased a bottle of Green Oil, you can get a re-filled bottle with a 20 pence discount. Either ask your bike shop, or click on the bottle deposit box below for more information.

Our products have proper recycling information on. You may have seen useless 'please recycle me', or 'plastic usually recyclable' messages on other packaging products. Some bicycle products do not even bother having any recycling information at all.

Importantly, many councils only take certain plastics. For example, many do not take polypropylene, plastic type '5'. So if the product doesn't tell you its polypropylene, and says 'plastic usually recyclable', they are doing more harm than good - this plastic will contaminate the recycling stream. The label below shows how it should be done.

Similarly, the phrase 'please recycle me' is ridiculous on its own, especially if you have a spray cap made of metal and mixed plastics attached to the bottle. Green Oil is different. If we haven't got the the stage of having a recyclable' piece of packaging, the label will say so, whilst providing a recycling code for each part.

Some companies use metal in their labels to give it a 'high-tech' shiny feel. This is a disaster, especially when it says 'please recycle'. The metallic label again contaminates the recycling stream. Similarly, using a different type of plastic for the label as for the bottle is poor practice. For our products, we went to great lengths to get HDPE plastic labels for our HDPE plastic bottles. They are both plastic type 2.

For our Green Clean bike cleaner, the spray cap is attached to the side either with a biodegradable rubber band, or a black band made from a reclaimed inner tube. This can be re used. We have to use safety caps and attach the spray cap on to the side as the spray cap alone can to leak in transit. The small amount of extra packaging in the form of a cap and a band is worth it to save wastage and postmen from getting soaked!

Until recently we used 100% recycled paper labels. These were great, but smudged and were difficult to apply. They could easily be ripped off which was good for recycling, but bad for transporting. Of more importance, the supplier of the special recycled 'gummed paper' went out of business, so we had to make a decision with just 4000 paper labels left.

Recycling takes energy in itself. This is not a great problem, Evolve for example use renewable energy to power their paper recycling factory. In any case it takes less energy to recycle then to take raw materials from the Earth.

However, the energy use does mean re-use is best. For this reason, we offer shops 5 litre re-fill cans. With these, you can get 10p off (and 20p off our chain lube) and re-fill your bottle. The Green Clean bike cleaner can also be re-filled with a 100ml bottle of Clean Chain.

 

Wholesale packaging

When Green Oil UK first started, boxes were scavenged from local shops, and the local off-licence. However, this took a lot of time and the boxes were flimsy, and not a standard size. We now therefore use boxes containing at least 75% recycled material, and still re-use boxes from other companies where we can.

Instead of horrible polystyrene pellets (some companies try to claim these are recyclable or 'CFC free' which is another example of green wash) we use Eco-fill biodegradable loose fill. These cornstarch based pellets can be put in a compost bin, and even dissolve in the rain. In addition we use shredded paper and reclaimed bubble wrap.

 

We did use authentic Selotape to seal boxes. Selotape is biodegradable. There are imitations made of plastic, but the original Selotape (made by the Selotape company) is made from sustainably sourced trees and biodegradable.

We now use recycled paper packing tape. This is more efficient, and even greener. Unlike polypropylene tape used by other companies to seal boxes, it won't contaminate the recycling stream. And it uses a latex based adhesive.

100% recycled paper

Some companies use paper which is '50% sustainably sourced' or just not recycled at all, "we're a bike company so we're already green" they might say. Unlike them, 100% of paper used by Green Oil UK Limited is 100% recycled. This includes our office stationary, leaflets and marketing material. We even use 'Jiffy Green' recycled paper mail bags for website orders.

Freecycling

We often end up with empty 25 litre barrels and other random stuff. We get rid of these through FreeCycle.org. People like to use the barrels as water butts, and other bits recently went to a bike recycling scheme.

Reclaimed wood display racks

Coming to a shop near you! These racks are made here in Bromley by people with severe learning difficulties. This gives them a sense of purpose, social interaction and skills for community integration. The wood is sustainably sourced in that it is waste wood diverted from landfill. It mainly consists of pallet wood, with the occasional piece of hardwood or furniture.

If your local bike shop does not yet have one, ask them to get in contact with us on 020 8313 9074.

10:10

Green Oil UK is a member of 10:10. This is a commitment to reduce the company's carbon footprint by 10% by the end of 2010. Every company should join this scheme. It is supported by the major political parties. Innovations on our part include using T5 ultra efficient lighting and using insulation. Use of reclaimed materials in our display racks also reduces the company's indirect carbon footprint.

If your school, University or place of work is not a member, get them to join. They will probably save money as a result.

100% palm oil free

Green Oil's ingredients are a trade secret, but we can tell you they are sustainably sourced, and that half the ingredients are organic. However, bio-fuels, vegetable oil, and even shampoo often contain 'palm oil'.

Palm oil is a useful fuel to keep car culture going, a cheap cooking substance to keep up the old obesity rates, and useful to 'bulk up' supermarket items, like cheap peanut butter and shampoo.

The problem with this? Palm oil relies on vast swathes of rainforest being cleared. Great, bio-diverse areas are destroyed and replaced by vast palm oil plantations. They even burn rainforest and pete bogs in order to grow palm oil, outweighing any carbon neutrality of using the end product.

This is at the expense of the environment, wildlife (especially orangutans) and indigenous people. Click on the Friends of the Earth link below for more on what you can do to end palm oil exploitation.

Green Oil and our whole range is therefore 100% palm oil free.
That's a promise.