BOULDER - Eco-friendly gear maker Green Guru Gear has partnered with a Minneapolis bicycle-repair company to acquire more pounds of blown-out bicycle inner tubes.

The Boulder-based gear maker recycles the inner tubes into bike bags and other accessories, which it sells at outdoor retail stores such as Recreational Equipment Inc., or REI, based in Seattle. Green Guru will pay for shipping to have the blown-out inner tubes sent from Bike Fixtation LLC in Minneapolis, said Phill Carter, a spokesman for the company.

The two companies each paid an undisclosed amount so Bike Fixtation could build two test recycling boxes, said Chad DeBaker, a co-founder of the bike self-service kiosk and vending machine company.

"There's just enough value in the tubes to pay for shipping," DeBaker said, but "overall, the program is sustainable, which is cool."

Three different Green Guru messenger bags sell for $69.95, $99.95 and $139.95 on the company's website, www.greengurugear.com.

Green Guru collects blown-out inner tubes from bicycle shops along the Front Range as well, Carter said. Bicyclists also can send in their own blown-out inner tubes to Green Guru Gear, Attention: Materials, 2500 47th St., Suite 12, Boulder, CO 80301.

Green Guru has grown in recent years, going from 14,700 pounds of recycled material made into products in 2011 to 23,000 pounds of recycled material in 2012, Carter said.

Company revenue was $325,000 in 2011. The company has three employees; its parent company is Ecologic Designs Inc.