The hole in the ozone layer is getting bigger as we speak. Yet people still continue to burn and release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere like there’s no tomorrow. (Well, if they continue acting this way, then there really won’t be a tomorrow.) A big contributor is the exhaust gas emitted by cars and motorcycles.
Now we might not be able to eliminate all sorts of emissions, but we can do our part by carpooling and taking the old bike out for a ride every now and then. If you don’t own a bike yet then no worries, because now you can get one for less than a hundred bucks. That’s if the Recycled Cardboard Bicycle created by Izhar Gafni ever gets made on a large scale. His bike is put together using recycled card board and will only cost $9 to $12 to produce. By the time it hits stores, these bikes would probably be priced somewhere around $60 to $90, so really, there’s no excuse why you shouldn’t get one of these. I think the coolest part is that you’ll be helping the environment by riding something that was made with the environment in mind.
Hit the jump to check out a video about the Recycled Cardboard Bicycle!
[ Izhar Bike Project ] VIA [ Incredible Things ]
That bike has well over $300 in parts on it, not including the frame and fork. It also isn’t a ‘cardboard bicycle’. The tires, brake calipers, tubes, belt drive, rear cog, front cog, pedals, brake levers, and cables aren’t made of cardboard. The cups, cones, bearings and all other bearing surfaces aren’t made of cardboard either. At best what they’re talking about here is the materials cost (ie, not including labor, shipping, packaging, etc) of making just the frame out of laminated paper.
In almost any city in America you can already get a used bicycle for under $100 that will work better, and be better for the environment than this bike. Because its already there. And uses off the shelf parts that are readily available and replaceable. This bike, which is not available for sale and probably won’t ever be, would end up costing you at least $600 if it had the same parts that are in the video.