Here we are trying to make transportation more environmentally friendly and economically sustainable at the same time. It’s already been done. In Zambia. A story about this green revolution in transportation tells us: On the outskirts of Lusaka, Zambia, next year’s crop of bicycles is being watered by Benjamin Banda.
Two Californians on a trip to Zambia found locals out of work. They put their thinking caps on and came up with a bicycle factory. The bikes are basically made of locally grown bamboo. Other projects followed as the local workers’ skills improved: a sturdy cargo bike, a bike trailer and a bike-drawn “zambulance”, now in use at 10 clinics around Lusaka. Read more.
If the idea of bamboo as transport appeals to you and you like adventure, you could always take a ride on Cambodia’s bamboo railway. But remember, when it gets really scary, there’s nothing to hang on to.
