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Biking: On the path to becoming even greener
Some bicyclists may be worthy of an extra pat on the back this year, thanks to new sustainable innovations in the biking community.
Wooden and bamboo bicycles are becoming increasingly popular options for frames among bikers and environmentally minded consumers. Traditional bicycle frames are made of unsustainable materials – such as steel, carbon fiber and aluminum – that take large amounts of energy to manufacture. Though the life cycle of wood-framed bikes as compared to those with steel frames is undetermined, the hardwood used by companies that build these bikes is renewable.
Ken Wheeler, owner of Renovo Bicycles – a Portland, Oregon-based company making these frames – suspects that they will probably last just as long as their more traditionally-framed cousins, citing the fact that nicks and dents can easily be sanded out of the hollow frames to make a polished, new-looking bike.
"What speaks for their sustainability even more [...] is their initial low carbon footprint and their durability," wrote April Streeter in an article on treehugger.com.
Not only are bamboo and wooden bicycles being marketed as sustainable investments in the U.S., bamboo bicycles are also being researched as a sustainable form of transportation in Africa. The Bamboo Bike Project, supported by Columbia University and the Earth Institute, seeks to stimulate a bike building industry in Africa that can provide bamboo bikes to be used to transport cargo.
According to the League of American Bicyclists, motor vehicles contribute a whopping 81 percent of carbon monoxide emissions in the U.S., along with 31 percent of carbon dioxide and 41 percent of nitrogen oxides. The league states that taking a short, four-mile bike ride instead of driving would keep 12 pounds of pollutants out of the air.
Bicycling is consequently growing in popularity for its comparatively minimal environmental impact. Gaston, South Carolina, will soon have a bicycle-only development known as "Bicycle City." Time will tell how many of these bikers will own bamboo or wooden bicycles.
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