What are your favorite business and public service ideas that use bikes?
We’ve profiled several examples, from mobile schools in the slums of India to FedEx Corp.’s electric tricycle delivery service. There are businesses like MetroPedal Power in Boston, which can carry up to 500 pounds on its bike trailers; and emergency services like pedal-powered bike ambulances in Namibia – all low-cost, innovative examples of human-powered delivery.
The growth of biking to meet increasingly mobile lifestyles, as well as consumers’ interest in “buying green,” is a trend to take note of. More and more urban dwellers are able to afford goods and services and bikes have become a way to meet the demand.
Gabriel Mandujano is the founder and owner of Wash Cycle Laundry, a Philadelphia-based business that picks up and delivers laundry for its clients. Previously, Mandujano worked as the manager of strategic alliances for the Center for Sustainable Transport in Mexico (CTS-México), a member of the EMBARQ Network (the producer of this blog). The former CTS-México employee is committed “to becoming the greenest, most socially responsible laundry service out there.”
Wash Cycle Laundry picks up and delivers laundry using bicycles. The social enterprise uses biodegradable detergents and is working to create more skilled jobs that pay a living wage. The business rolls out officially in October. (You can sign up to be a beta tester in the meantime.) The delivery service is available to dorms, apartments, homes and a select area of downtown Philadelphia.
Bikes are becoming so popular that there are now all sorts of creative means to get around while carrying a burden. The company, Carry Freedom, based in Glasgow, Scotland, has some beautiful, utilitarian designs. Their website also points out that trailers are efficient because they isolate the bike from the load, are easy to maneuver and lock to the bike.
More of the company’s images can be found on their Flickr page.
We plan to do a follow-up piece on more mobile innovations that use creative technology and designs to access diverse populations.
A bike trailer that folds into itself and triples as a courier bag and suitcase. Photo by Carry Freedom.
The company also builds custom bikes.
A refrigerated sandwich container on castor wheels. Photo by Carry Freedom
They can be used most anywhere.
Photo by Carry Freedom.
