Recycling at a Swedish McDonalds

This post doesn't have a thing to do with bikes but it serves to highlight the everyday commitment to recycling and the environment here in Scandinavia. IKEA of Denmark think differently, as we have seen, and Swedish McDonalds do, too.

This McDonalds places the recycling task into the hands of the trained Swedish recycler. When you're done eating you sort your garbage into the appropriate slots. When I first tried it, it took 48 minutes for me to figure it out. But watching the locals do it and you see it is really second nature. Slots for cans, bottles, straws and lids, foot leftovers, drink/ice leftovers, cardboard boxes, cups and the trays.

Click on the photo to go to Flickr and see the notes on the photo and to get a better idea of how it works.

Another fine detail which we don't even have in Denmark is when you buy a Happy Meal for the rugrats you get fries AND a choice of carrots or apple slices. In Denmark the kid can choose between fries OR carrots or apple slices. What kid is EVER going to let the fries go? But whenever my boy gets fries AND carrots/apples, he always eats the healthy stuff.

This was the same McDonalds I've blogged about before, with the bike racks outside.

Bike Helmet Protest in Melbourne

I had a brilliant week in Melbourne as a guest of the State of Design Festival . Loads of interviews and events that all culminated with my keynote speech on the Saturday. There was, however, an event on the Saturday morning - July 26, 2010 - that was extremely interesting to be a part of. A group of citizens, rallied together by filmmaker and bicycle advocate Mike Rubbo , decided to go for a bicycle ride together on Melbourne's new bike share system bikes. A splendid idea. Melbourne's bike share system is shiny new, although unlike most cities in the world with a bike share programme, only 70-odd people are using them each day. In Dublin, by contrast, there are over 30,000 subscribers. Not to mention the cracking successes in Paris, Barcelona, Seville and most of the over 100 cities with such systems. So, a group of people, many of them Copenhagenize.com readers, fancy a bike ride. Sounds lovely enough. They met up at the bike racks at Melbourne University. Hired the bikes wi

IKEA Idea With Velorbis Bikes

Photo: Per Wadskjaer for IKEA IKEA of Denmark is now starting a new concept at their Danish stores. They did a bit of market research and found that roughly 25% of their customers rode their bikes to the stores or took public transport - even though most of then are located outside the cities in large commerical centres - some call them Big Box Districts - which are located outside the city centre. In Copenhagen we have two IKEAs. One is about 10 km from the city centre, the other is about 20 km. I, myself, have made the former trip several times on my 3-speed, carrying all manner of cumbersome goods home to the nest. It's great to learn that so many other IKEA customers ride their bikes out there, too. Doesn't surprise me, really, that so many Danes ride to such lengths for such purposes. But it is cool that IKEA respects the fact by launching a concept that celebrates the fact. And remember kids! Cyclists make better shoppers than motorists! Photo: Per Wadskjaer for IKEA IKE

A Walking Helmet is a Good Helmet

At long last logic prevails. A new campaign has hit the streets of Denmark, thanks to the visionaries at The Danish Road Safety Council [Sikker Trafik] and Trygfonden [an insurance company]. Intense promotion of walking helmets for pedestrians has begun. This logic has been sorely missed. These two organisations have happily promoted bike helmets but pedestrians suffer just as many head injuries, if not more. This Danish campaign poster reads: "A walking helmet is a good helmet" "Traffic safety isn't just for cyclists. The pedestrians of Denmark actually have a higher risk of head injury. The Danish Road Safety Council recommends walking helmets for pedestrians and other good folk in high risk groups." The slogan is catchy in Danish since it kind of rhymes. All in all it's a brilliant project. Let's save some lives. The new walking helmets will be available in the Danish Cyclists Union's [Dansk cyklist forbund] shop. Although, as the

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