Bamboo is the fastest-growing woody plant in the world. It’s extremely renewable, has a low impact on the environment and is being used for everything from flooring to fabric. And now, it’s got another purpose: helping developing economies grow by giving African workers some practical skills and a product to export.
Zambikes is a bicycle company that was created with this mission: to provide high-quality bicycles and educational training to underprivileged and service-based Zambians. After working out a deal with a California-based bicycle maker who developed a bamboo bicycle frame, the company is now starting to grow and make bamboo bicycle frames in Africa and export them to the U.S. As the BBC reports, the lack of training, raw materials, capital and tools in Zambia have made such an endeavor almost unheard of in the past, but thanks to the strength and renewability of bamboo grown right in the country (as well as the efforts of both Zambians and Americans working together to create workshops in Africa), Zambikes’ bamboo endeavors are taking off.
Bamboo, as it turns out, is a great material for bike frames. It has shock absorbing properties and is tough and durable. Interest in the bamboo bikes is already high in the U.S., so the company is poised to start seeing some financial benefit. But that’s not the only return that Zambikes provides; the company also helps Africans directly in the form of business coaching and discretionary loans. The company doesn’t even charge interest on the loans; rather, it simply asks the borrowers to show that what they do with the money will somehow benefit the community.
So look for eco-friendly Zambikes on the road and in bike shops soon… You can even get one yourself! A Zambike bamboo bicycle costs roughly $900 for a finished bike. And best of all, owning one means helping developing economies and the environment.
If you want to help the environment in other ways, sign up for the onemilliontrees movement, sponsored by the Privacy Council. You can save a tree every year by cutting your junk mail!
Tags: africa, bamboo, bicycles, conservation, environment, zambikes
