Air travel may not be the most sustainable mode of transportation, but it's becoming increasingly easy for consumers to choose a greener ride to and from the airport. Back in 2008 we saw the Seattle-Tacoma airport begin offering free electricity for plug-in cars, and now the Portland International Airport has set up a bike assembly station.

Located on the airport's lower terminal roadway, the new bike assembly station will enable people travelling with bicycles to more easily assemble and disassemble their bikes before and after flights. Portland is already well-known for its bicycle-friendliness, of course—it even has a bike path connecting to the airport. Accordingly, the assembly station can now be used by travellers and airport employees alike to get ready for a commute along that path, as well as by visitors to the city needing to disassemble their bike for a return flight home. As an extra service, Travel Oregon and the Port of Portland have made basic bike tools available for check-out at the airport's State Welcome Center along with literature about bicycling resources in the region.

With many travellers visiting Oregon and southwest Washington to take advantage of bike tourism and to participate in the region’s many bicycle events, the Portland airport's bike-friendliness makes extra good sense. Given the countless universal advantages of the bicycle, however—and the corresponding explosion in its popularity—Portland's example is ripe for emulation in any bicycle-friendly city around the globe.

Website: www.portofportland.com
Contact: contactus@portofportland.com

Spotted by: airlinetrends.com

As bicycles grow in popularity, so do related opportunities for smart entrepreneurs and marketers. A concept we've increasingly spotted in bike-loving European cities—including on our own rides in Amsterdam—is bike seat advertising.

Ads are printed on plastic bike seat covers, which are then placed over the seats of parked bicycles, keeping seats dry and leaving an unavoidable impression. By selecting specific locations or even certain types of bikes, advertisers can focus on an audience that's as narrow or wide as needed. Parked bikes near universities to reach students, for example, or schools and cargo bikes—the Amsterdam version of the minivan—to target parents.

In Europe, the covers are sold by numerous companies, including Zadelhoesje, which addresses environmental concerns by selling seat covers made of recycled plastic. One to look into if you're in advertising or promo products. Or why not set up a standalone business, offering both printed covers and promotional teams to distribute them?

Website: www.zadelhoesje.com

Last year we saw a UK Volvo dealership offer bicycles as loaner vehicles when customers' cars are in for service, and recently one of our spotters alerted us to something similar in Spain. Specifically, Fiat now offers owners of its Fiat 500 an electric bike option while their car is in the shop.

Launched in May, Fiat's offering is now available in its Barcelona, Valencia, A Coruña, Sevilla and Madrid locations through a partnership with bicycle maker Trek. There's no charge for borrowing the electric bikes, which have a 70 km range and recharge during braking as well as through plug-in power. The motivation for the move, Fiat says, is to demonstrate its commitment to sustainable mobility; the company also offers an eco:Drive service to help consumers use their cars more efficiently.

If the electric-bike loaner program proves popular in Spain, Fiat will reportedly extend it to other European countries as well. Other car makers and dealerships: what about you? And since this is a relevant and appealing way to let consumers try out a product that's still unfamiliar to most consumers, electric bicycle brands would do well to seize the opportunity and initiate similar partnerships. (Related: Bicycle trailers on loan at IKEA.)

Website: www.fiat.es
Contact: www.fiat.es/contacto

Spotted by: Leticia Pérez Prieto

Now that mobile phones are ubiquitous, public phone booths are fast becoming obsolete. In a bid to find a viable new use for its 13,500 phone booths around the country, Telekom Austria has begun converting them into battery recharging stations for electric cars, scooters and motorbikes.

Unveiling its first phone booth-turned-recharging station in front of the company's Vienna headquarters in May, Telekom Austria announced plans to convert an additional 29 phone booths by the end of this year. During the initial trial period, recharging is free. The company eventually plans to charge a single-digit euro sum for the recharging service, with payments to be made via mobile phone.

Telekom Austria’s forward-thinking scheme comes at a time when, of the total 4.36 million cars on Austrian roads, there are only 223 electric cars and 3,559 hybrid cars registered. Yet the Austrian motor vehicle association, VOeC, predicts that the number of electric vehicles in Austria will rise to 405,000 by 2020. Telecommunications companies around the globe: a leap into the widely forecast EV-prevalent future worth following? (Related: Charging infrastructure for electric vehicles — Free car charging at new, greener McDonalds.)

Website: www.telekom.at
Contact: www.telekom.at/contakt/email

Spotted by:  Cecilia Biemann

The safety hazards of bicycle and scooter travel may demand protective gear, but that's no reason to stop being stylish, as we've already noted before. Recently we came across a new innovation for participants in either mode of transportation in the form of reflective lace that can be sewn into or worn over traditional clothing.

Reflective Lace, also known as “LFLECT,” is available in lengths of 120cm or as a set of two ruffled elastic rings to be worn directly over socks, gloves or hair; both are priced at GBP 20. Eight colours are available—including antique beige, antique mint green, black, bright fuchsia and canary yellow—as are two designs, including one with a bicycle pattern and wavy border. Reflective Lace is currently available only from London-based Lost Values, but its maker welcomes inquiries from potential retail partners. Bicycle-related stockists the world over: one to offer your fashion-conscious customers...?

Website: www.reflectivelace.com
Contact: elena@lostvalues.com

Spotted by: Green Thing

P.S. Along with three other companies we've featured (Sugru, Make Do and Woolfiller) Reflective Lace is in the running for Sustainability's Next Top Model, a contest organized by our friends at Green Thing. Head over to the competition's Facebook page to vote for your favourite.