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PEDAL PEOPLE NEWS SUMMER 2023 Greetings from the Pedal People Press! A simple, informative newsletter to support our collective path to sustainability.
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- Introducing Our New Tiered Pricing System
- Tiny Galleries Grand Opening
- Vote Pedal People in 'Best of the Valley'
- Massachusetts’s New 4ft Cyclist Law
- Pedal People Does Garden Work
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NEW TIERED PRICING SYSTEM
This season, we are excited to introduce our new, equity-focused tiered pricing system for our trash, recycling, and compost hauling work. We are shifting to this system so that we can pay our worker-owners a livable wage and offer customers different levels of pricing based on variation in income, assets, and wealth privilege.
At Pedal People, we feel it is important for us to acknowledge that we do not do our work in a vacuum – we work within a community of people and families with a wide diversity of experiences, resources, and needs. That’s why we have decided to follow suit of other organizations and move to this tiered pricing model, which will allow us to continue serving our community while honoring those different realities.
Starting with your next billing cycle, you will be asked to choose a tier that best fits your financial situation. These tiers are based on percent modifiers to our traditional pricing system. For instance, tier 2 represents our base service prices, while every tier above that represents a certain percentage increase to those prices, and the tier below acts as a discount to those who need it. Additionally, for those who cannot afford tier 1 rates, we will often be able to offer lower rates upon request.
If you are someone who receives a senior or disability discount, we will continue to offer you a 15% discount off of the tier 2 rate. Of course, if your financial situation allows you to support Pedal People further, you are welcome to choose a different tier.
We
also recognize that you or your family’s whole story is a lot more
complex than just your annual income. If you are living with large
amounts of student or other debt, you’re taking on significant medical
or care-taking expenses, or you are part of a group that has been
marginalized economically throughout history, you may consider dropping
down a tier. On the other hand, if you are living in a house that is
already paid off or you benefit from generational wealth, please
consider moving up a tier.
And,
if you are a business customer or a property owner who pays for
collection for your tenants, the household income guidelines may not
directly fit your situation. Please pick the tier that most fits your
financial situation, or contact us and we will be happy to help you
decide.
Please note that this system is entirely opt-in,
and anyone who wants to remain at our base prices is welcome to do so.
Also, this system will only apply to our trash, recycling, and compost
hauling work, at least for the time being. Other services, such as yard care and other hauling work
will be priced as they have been previously.
We
know that transitions like this can have an effect on you and your
family. We hope you understand that this change keeps Pedal People in
line with its values of providing equitable services to our community
members, and keeps our worker-owners housed and fed so we can continue
to do this work!
To read more about the new system, and to log in to your account and select the tier that's right for you, click here! |
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TINY GALLERIES GRAND OPENING 
The Tiny Art 4 All Gallery project is a series of 5 small-scale, interactive Pop-Up Art galleries
located along the bike path between Northampton and Florence. This year, Pedal People is one of the sponsors of the Tiny Gallery! Begin at the round-a-bout near Look Park or the bike path entrance behind Stop and Shop in Northampton and take a walk or ride your bike to explore each gallery!
Every 2 months, the exhibits change featuring new work to be engaged with. Squirrel altars, zoetropes, sculptural books, lego landscapes, paintings, interactive haunted houses, glass sculptures, ceramic pots, and poetry-inspired works are just some of what to expect this coming season. There are 5 sites along the rail trail between King St. and Bridge Rd. in Florence. For more information,
click here!
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VOTE PEDAL PEOPLE IN "BEST OF THE VALLEY"
The Daily Hampshire Gazette is having their annual Reader’s Choice poll for businesses in the valley, and if you feel so inclined, we’d appreciate your vote! To visit their website, click here! (Note: as of the time of the sending of this newsletter, the actual voting page seems to be down, but will hopefully be back up before Monday!)
Pedal People is listed in the Services category, in the sub-category ‘Best Local Green Business’. Polling closes at 5pm on June 26th, so be sure to get your votes in for all your favorite local businesses!
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MASSACHUSETTS' NEW 4FT CYCLIST LAW
As of April 1st of this year, our state has some new rules of the road that we want to make sure you know about! In particular, we want to highlight the new safe-passing rule, which dictates that drivers will need to provide a “safe passing distance” of at least 4 feet when passing cyclists, wheelchair users, roadside workers, and other pedestrians. Massachusetts is the 36th state to define “safe passing” as at least 3 feet. Motorists are explicitly allowed to cross a double-yellow line in order to pass “when it is safe to do so and adhering to the roadway speed limit”. You can read more about the new laws here!
This may all seem like common sense, but to many of us who spend a lot of time in the road’s shoulder, it may also come as a relief to have it made official! Drive safe out there, and always watch for cyclists, wheelchair users, workers, and pedestrians!
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PEDAL PEOPLE DOES GARDEN WORK!
Pedal
People has some new openings for our worker-owners to help with your
gardens this summer! Here are the parameters for the kind of jobs we can
consider:
- In Northampton only - Weeding, garden maintenance, applying mulch, planting, other garden tasks - Recurring weekly or bi-weekly of 1 hour or more - Jobs spanning 2-4 weeks or more considered, depending on details - Customers obtain their own materials (e.g. mulch, compost, plants, etc) - We bring gardening tools and enthusiasm! By bicycle.
If interested, please fill out this form
so we have more information on your needs. Our rate is $50/hour (not subject to the new tier system), which
allows us to pay our worker-owners a living wage. Please note we are not
able to take jobs that are less than 1 hour weekly (unless we are
already at your address for mowing). We
will reach out to you within 2-3 business days of submitting the form
to confirm the details and whether we can accept this job or not.
Filling out the form is not a guarantee of service. Thank you for your
interest and support!
Bike on! -Pedal People
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Our mailing address is PO Box 415 Northampton, MA 01061-0415
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