Zambia's Bamboo Bikes

Cool story out of Zambia about sustainable development and local engineering. After visiting an impoverished part of their country, two Zambian college students wanted to come up with a way to provide the region with good-quality jobs using locally-sourced materials. Their solution: bicycles made out of bamboo, and thus Zambikes was born.

Zambikes uses locally-grown bamboo to fashion bicycle frames. Bamboo is a fast-growing, totally renewable crop; an added benefit in using it for bicycle frames is that it’s also a natural shock-absorber - a plus for riding over rough terrain. The Zambikes concept has been so successful the factory has developed several modifications to the standard bike frame, including a cargo-hauling model and a three-wheeled rural ambulance, now being used by several clinics in the region. There are now plans to start selling Zambikes in the United States under their Zambian nickname “bambooseros”. Vaugh Spethmann, one of Zambikes co-founders is excited about the idea. “The thought of Zambian-made products being sold in the USA. That just doesn't happen.”

Check out the whole BBC article, it’s definitely worth a read.