EzGreensboro.com

Or, The Revolution Will Be On 2 Wheels?

I'm sorry, we've yet to complete our first production build but as I've been almost 6 years into this effort I can't stand keeping EzGreensboro.com a secret any longer. It ain't about making money, it's about changing attitudes.

Used Mobility Scooters

Or, Plug It In, Plug It In?

As RecycleBill looks around for ways to make his own green business successful he often finds niches that he shares as part of my list of Green Start-up Ideas. And sometimes his inspiration comes from connections he has made throughout the Green Blogosphere. Such was the case when Cathy put me in touch with someone from my very own home town who was looking to buy a used mobility scooter.

While the television ads make it appear as if any disabled or elderly person can get a mobility scooter for nothing, the fact is, it can be very difficult and extremely expensive for Americans with less than stellar health care policies.

This was the case when Wendy, a small business owner and social worker, contacted me looking for a used mobility scooter for a family member. But even sadder was the fact that just the day before we crushed a used mobility scooter I had just purchased for scrap. You see, never before have I had a market for used scooters.

Used and broken mobility scooters make their way into local recycling centers almost every day but because almost no one deals in used scooters or used parts most of these scooters go straight to the crusher. But if I didn't already have 2 green businesses and a third in the making I just might start making the rounds by searching RecycleBills.com for recycling centers near where I live so that I could start buying inventory and becoming my area's first used mobility scooter store.

And a smart scooter salesman would know to sell back to the recycling center what's left after you sell and part these babies out.

Confuseus On Greening With House Plants

Or, Clearing The Air

It's a well known fact that houseplants improve the quality of indoor air but this morning the green guru of Confuseus.com tells us his take on greening your home with plants.

Confuseus sez, "Groopies like flowers in pot, Confuseus like flowering pot."

Editor's note: There's nothing I can add.

The Next Wackemall

Or, The Building Of The First Production Wackemall?

This weekend, after RecycleBill finishes pouring the last 2 steps for his project, Beating Swords Into Plowshares, replacing a faucet and repairing a leaky drain under the kitchen sink I get to start building my first Wackemall Motored Cycle.

The build will begin with the removal of most everything that is attached to the frame. Then I'll put it all together to make sure everything fits.

I'll be installing a 50cc 4 Cycle engine with chrome exhaust, a belt drive primary, a chain drive secondary and a chrome springer front end. I'll start with the standard gas tank that came with the engine just so I can take her for a spin and then I'll begin construction of a custom built tank along with a few other one-of-a-kind custom parts.

While production Wackemalls will really be one-off customs, the technical specifications of these motored cycles will all be the same with the differences being strictly cosmetic. That is, until I make improvements on the product line. Later, we'll begin construction of Wackemall customs built entirely to customer specs.

Product development is being handled by a group of experienced builders from across the nation with their many strengths exceeding our weaknesses. While each of us is working to build our own brands we're also working to build each others' brands and improve all of our product lines. When the first tinkerers bolted engines on bicycles over 100 years ago each builder worked in a vacuum but today we are able to share our knowledge through public and private forums in ways only the Internet allows.

I've got my new motored cycle website online but I'm keeping it somewhat private until I'm ready to launch my product line.

After I finish putting the new Wackemall together and making sure everything is working properly I'll take it all apart so that the frame, fenders and chain guards can all be sandblasted and professionally painted by one of my vendors here in Greensboro. Then I'll bolt it all back together and see if I can find a buyer while starting on the next Wackemall.

Green Driveway Construction

Or, Paving Roofs?

If you're looking to start your own green business or if you happen to already be in the business of building roofs and/or driveways and want to green your business then this may well be the green start-up idea for you.

Before we begin please allow me to explain that like many green ideas this will force you to rethink the way things are usually done but the idea I'm about to present has been in use for as long as I can remember. Years ago, near the corner of what is now the intersection of Battleground Avenue and Old Battleground Road in Greensboro, North Carolina there once stood a house that had a driveway constructed of used asphalt roofing shingles simply laid on the ground until they were about 6" thick. The driveway outlasted the house.

Currently, roofing contractors pay tipping fees to landfills to get rid of old shingles and the landfill operators usually bury the shingles in the ground even though many states have legalized the use of old shingles to make new asphalt. You see, many asphalt companies have invested or in most cases, borrowed, millions upon millions of dollars to buy machines that chew up old asphalt roads and turn them into new asphalt and if you think those asphalt companies are going to retire those machines early you're crazier than RecycleBill.

And therein lies to opportunity.

While it's true most homeowners wouldn't want to look out their windows at driveways made of a hodgepodge of mixed color shingles and removing the nails is a real pain in the... Well, you know. The fact is: used asphalt shingles are a better base material for driveways than gravel, rock, screenings, limestone, sandrock, ground seashells or any other material commonly in used in the construction of asphalt or concrete driveways-- you simply need to rethink the way you do things now. And when you consider the fact that roofing contractors will pay you $25 to $50 a ton to take it off their hands it really begins to make economic sense.

By the way, my shop floor is made of used asphalt shingles. It's not pretty but it's not muddy and I got paid to relieve the roofing contractors of their old shingles. Next year I'm planning to build sidewalks from old shingles and my wheelbarrow is the only tool I need.