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Monterey Bay Area Green Business Program: Extra Bike-Friendly Spots

If you live a car-free life, or don’t need Volvo service, jump down to “Other green businesses” to learn about other extra-bike friendly businesses in Monterey County who are certified green!

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When Car Shops Love Bikes

Am I car-free? Nope.  Been there, done that, when I lived in Santa Cruz.  A year after moving to rural Monterey County, I needed  a car!

Do I have an electric vehicle, or a hybrid?  Nope, not yet.  Drove the same BMW for 16 years, wonderfully maintained by Monterey Bay BMW.  Then I got a Volvo, before EVs or hybrids were available.  And the Beamer shop didn’t really service those.

Fortunately, not long after, I found Hans Auto Repair, which specializes exclusively in Volvos.  Been super happy with my car shop ever since–a car shop that loves bikes!

Why appreciate a car shop?
  • Could it be those two-wheeled gadgets always hanging at-the-ready on the wall of their shop–evidence of their own preferred mode of transportation?  (See photo below.)
  • Or  because Mike Brooks and his assistant, Nick, keep my car running perfectly?
  • Or because Tracy Brooks, service manager, gives me well-warranted confidence that we’re staying on top of what needs to happen, and without spending unnecessarily?
  • Or because, even though I’m a marine mammal in distress, I never feel intimidated about my level of mechanical understanding?
  • Or do you wonder if I appreciate that Hans Auto Repair is the first Seaside business to be green certified in the Monterey Bay Area Green Business Program?
Could it be–all of the above? Yes!

If you have a Volvo and are looking for a good shop, you’ll probably be curious about these photos taken at Hans Auto Repair.

And even if you don’t, keep reading to learn more about the Monterey Bay Area Green Business Program, serving Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties–and more of the extra-bike friendly businesses who are certified green!

Tracy Brooks, Automotive Lingo Translator Extraordinaire

What it means to be green

Visit the Monterey Bay Green Business Program website to learn who is behind the certifying, what a certified green business is, why these businesses deserve your support, and what it takes to be certified green in the Monterey Bay region.

Live outside the Monterey Bay Tri-County region?  There are programs sprouting up in other parts of California, in Hawaii, and in Colorado.  Click here.

Other green businesses, in Monterey County, that are extra bike-friendly!

Got bike lights?

Also in the Monterey Bay Area Green Business Program (MBAGBP)  is Light and Motion, renowned for their bike lights and more.  See Night Ride Home to learn what first prompted me to support this locally based company.

Bikey media

Kera Abraham, assistant editor; Mark C. Anderson, managing editor, along with intern Neil Heckman, are among Monterey County Weekly staff who often bike to work and elsewhere.  The solar-powered Weekly is another MBAGBP certified green biz.  Check out their May 2011 special bike issue.

Ultra green HER Helmet Thursdays spots
A winning combination

By helping to build a more bike-friendly county, all participants in the HER Helmet Thursdays Project are taking a meaningful green action.  They have the vision to see that “Saving the world and making a profit are not an either-or proposition.”

And the following  HER Helmet Thursdays participants have gone the extra mile by earning the uncommon distinction of green certification by the Monterey Bay Area Green Business Program, just like Hans Auto Repair.  There are nearly 200 HHT participants, and here are ultra  green HHT spots, certified by MBAGBP:

Bike on over and support them.  And take an extra moment to thank them for their extra efforts to protect the Earth for future generations!

 

 

Posted by: marilynch on June 6, 2011.
Last revised by: marilynch on June 16, 2011.

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