Recently my apartment complex left a note on my door that our community bicycle cages were being cleaned out of all abandoned bikes. They requested that I come to the office to get a tag for my bike so it didn't end up in the dumpster. Dumpster? Really? I thought of the dozens of abandoned bikes I had seen languishing by themselves in the bike cage covered by a few centimeters of Los Angeles soot and dust. Dirty yes. Damaged no. Dumpster worthy? Not at all.

Immediately I jumped on the computer to find a solution to save the bikes. The fact is Americans buy 22 million bikes a year and 17 million of those are adult bikes. This leaves thousands if not millions of old bikes unused and potential feed for our growing landfills.

My search for a bike savior led me immediately to Pedals for Progress. Since it's inception, the group has redistributed over 117,000 donated bikes to developing countries. In many poor communities the bikes offer recipients a chance to save time and energy traveling to jobs, schools, or fields. The founder, Dave Schweidenback, who was nominated for CNN's Heroes program this year, says people in developing nations "don't need a hand out, they need a hand up." By offering convenient, nonpolluting transport, local economies are strengthened through developing small businesses. Pedals for Progress organizes bike drives throughout the year and also accepts donations (as it costs $35 to ship each bike).

Pedals for Progress isn't a local organization for me, but there are multiple organizations like it throughout America and overseas.  For example: in the UK bikes can be donated to Re~Cycle, and in British Columbia the group Bicycles for Humanity collects bikes to ship to Africa. 

Other ideas to prevent a bike from ending up in landfill include: donating it to a local non-profit, refurbishing the bike and giving it to a friend who needs one, or even simply selling it to a pawn shop. Keep in mind, if more people would buy used bikes or refurbish their existing bikes, we could save thousands of pounds of natural resources, which would be used in new product construction.

Bikes can provide free transportation for years and many people can't afford to buy one. So why throw away an unused bicycle or let it sit unused for years in your garage? Be proactive this Holiday Season and give your unused bike to someone who really needs it. Or organize a bike drive and give an entire community hope for a better future.