Service Fire Extinguishers to BS 5306 On A Bike! Is it Possible?
Sounds Crazy? Read On
I watched “No Impact Man” on Netflix the other week. For those of you who haven’t seen this film, it is about a family who decide to leave their high consumption 5th Avenue lifestyle behind and try to live a year while making no environmental impact. This got me thinking: What could I do to help the environment? So I decided to leave the vehicle on its drive and plan a day of how I could help the environment.
How did I go about doing this?
The Problem
I needed to have some fire extinguishers delivered and serviced , plus I needed to visit some new customers on the way and visit some clients without using a vehicle or public transport. The round trip was about 24 miles all within the Birmingham area – too far to walk. So I decided to use my trusted steed, my mountain bike.
However, I still had the problem of getting fire extinguishers to my customers.
Obviously, there were way too many to carry; besides, one 6 ltr foam extinguisher can weigh up to 10 kg, which is too much to carry on my bike.
So I called my supplier who said it would only cost me £10 to get my order delivered. Great, problem solved.
Equipment
Here is a list of equipment needed to fuel my body while servicing fire extinguishers to BS 5306:
- Rucksack
- Tools for servicing: Adjustable spanner, gauge tester, tamper tags, scales, service labels, rag
- Puncture repair kit
- First aid kit
- Multitool for my bike
- 2 litres of water
- Nuts for energy and protein
The Journey
Now came the difficult bit: as I wasn’t using a vehicle, I had to get from A to B without using any motorways or dual carriageways. I didn’t really fancy using the Birmingham canal paths as I wanted to look clean and presentable when I arrived at my customers. So I used the Google Maps app on my phone, set it for bike journeys only, and planned my route. I also made sure I had enough charge on my phone; otherwise, I could easily get lost should my battery die on me.
By plugging an earpiece into my phone, I could hear the directions rather than trying to watch them as I would in a van or car. This worked surprisingly well; I only got lost once or twice for about 5-10 minutes at a time.
When I arrived at one of my customers, a doctor’s surgery, the senior partner was quite shocked to see me on my bike, especially when I told him that I had done about 14 miles up to that point. I serviced the fire extinguishers that had been delivered and placed them in the appropriate positions as defined by BS 5306 pt 8 2012 . I then got back on my bike and continued visiting my other customers.
The whole day, I visited 3 customers and 3 potential customers, all done on my bike, which resulted in helping the environment. I did around 24 miles and burnt around 1800 calories.
Would I Do It Again?
Most definitely! I felt an enormous amount of happiness that I was doing my bit for the environment. Although it was only me making a difference for one day, this got me thinking again: What if I did it for a week, a month, or even a year? Not only would I be helping the environment, but I would also be helping my health too.
Maybe we should all decide for one day a week to leave the car or whatever vehicle you drive on the drive/road/garage and do our business/work by pedal power.What kind of difference would that make?