We met with Spin, January 12, at East Lansing’s Blue Owl Cafe. Little came of the meeting other than the expression of mutual interest for environmental stewardship. Spin committed to quickly picking up any of their scooters retrieved from the river once notified.
To encourage a collaborative partnership we offered to help promote their company’s commitment to environmental stewardship, assist with their community outreach, invited them to join us in future scooter retrieval efforts, and more. At the time we thought there may 30 more scooters remaining in the river. |
They responded, “At the present time Spin is unable to join in any of the other activities that you discussed.” They made no attempt to reset expectations about the number of Spin scooters we thought had been lost to our area rivers. We still had in mind a count of 30.
To help us better understand, and to explain to others, how their enclosed battery packs pose little risk to our waterway as they claimed, we asked them to prepare a letter. They did not respond. |
Evident by their practices, it appears Spin is leaving it up to others to discover the scope of the problem, search for and retrieve their lost inventory, create a solution, and incur all associated costs.
There is a growing sentiment that Spin is not acting as a strong community partner nor global leader as they claim to be. We agree |
A four point comprehensive campaign to help solve this problem could be launched within 2-4 weeks. See section at bottom of page below for details. |
Per the reporting of Lansing's 100.7 FM, they share a quote from Unagi, a manufacturer of electric scooters, about how chemicals in electric scooter batteries can pose a serious problem if not disposed of correctly.
"Batteries typically contain toxic chemicals such as lead, mercury, cadmium and nickel. These metals are intentionally added to the battery's cell chemistry because they are good conductors of electricity. But, once the batteries have reached their end-of-life, these same elements can leak into the environment when improperly disposed of and contaminate soil or groundwater." |
Per the reporting of The Spokesman-Review, a Spokane newspaper, aeading U.S. ecotoxicologist gives warning about the dangers of lithium ion powered scooters.
Hugh Lefcort, a Gonzaga University biology professor specializing in ecotoxicology, tells us, lithium ion powered scooters are particularly problematic as they pose a serious threat to aquatic life. Unlike iron, lithium and heavy metals in rechargeable batteries are toxic, Lefcort said. High doses of lithium can impact heart contraction in mammals. The cobalt and nickel in batteries can cause damage, too. |
"Spin shall remove any and all inoperable or unsafe scooters from the fleet as soon as reasonably possible and in any event, within 24 hours of the initial onset of that condition."
Michigan Waterways Stewards
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