Holiday Bonus for U.K. Ikea Employees: 9,000 Free Bikes
By
Jason Varone
2:54 PM EST on December 18, 2006
Ikea, the Swedish retail chain, showed its green credentials yesterday by giving all 9,000 of its UK workers a free bicycle. The store handed out the £139 fold-up bike and offered a 15 per cent subsidy on public transport at its Christmas breakfast.
The bicycle is the store’s second high-profile green gesture this year following its decision to introduce a charge for plastic bags and encourage reusable ones. Plastic bag take-up at checkouts is down by 97 per cent.
Jason Varone battles the streets everyday during a 9 mile commute on his bicycle from downtown Brooklyn to the Upper East Side. In addition to his efforts on Streetsblog, he is an artist making work related to the environment and technology. Examples of his work can be found at www.varonearts.org.
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