New Green Businesses

Good reasons to take public transportation abound — it’s environmentally friendly, cheap, and fairly convenient — but for some folks it’s just not possible. We realize this; there are a lot of things in this city that aren’t close to a bus or light rail stop. So if you’re concerned about going green and want to do more than just own a hybrid, there’s some good news: two new businesses have recently opened their doors in Baltimore, both green and both focusing on transportation.

Bumper Globe, an auto body shop located in Federal Hill (1845 S. Hanover Street), is “dedicated to making sure [their] repair processes and equipment meet the highest standards for health safety and environmental protection.” While they don’t go into great detail about how they go green (it seems to have mostly to do with their auto painting process), they do offer other, really nice amenities like free estimates, free coffee and tea, free wi-fi, and, rarest of all for a body shop, clean restrooms.

Green Rider, down in Fell’s Point (723 S. Broadway Street), sells electric scooters. Scooters is their term — these are closer to mopeds than the motorized Razors that some annoying kid on your street probably has. The scooters, called Motorinos, are capable of speeds up to 20 miles an hour and have about a 30-mile range (expandable up to 50 miles). They’re governed under the same laws as bicycles, which means you don’t need a license or insurance to operate one, but when you drive you need to wear a helmet and can’t drive on any federal highways or roads where the speed limit exceeds 50 mph. The cost of a Motorino is a touch over $2000 on average, but if you’re just interested in fooling around on one for the day they are available for rent on an hourly basis.

And we’re not the only ones hyping Green Rider; the City Paper just wrote a fascinating piece about their story. Check it out and feel good about local green businesses.