A simple electric motor in connection with a battery has sparked a real boom on the bicycle market. But can the e-bike contribute something to the climate, be sustainable and even save the world? At least one manufacturer tries.
Whether it’s the fairly produced Fairphone from the Netherlands, the end of drinking straws and cutlery made of plastic or the energy transition: never before has sustainability been so pronounced and environmental protection as important as it is today. The bicycle, which has mutated into an e-bike in recent years and triggered a boom, is in the same direction. Cycling is more popular than ever. Manufacturers can hardly keep up with production. But can an e-bike be even more sustainable and environmentally friendly than it already is? Yes it can. The Kiel bicycle manufacturer My Boo shows how.
THIS IS HOW MY BOO MAKES THE E-BIKE EVEN MORE SUSTAINABLE
The bicycle is probably the most environmentally friendly means of transport in the world. Nevertheless, it causes CO₂. The long supply chains are to blame for this. Most bicycle manufacturers source their frames mainly from Taiwan. The aluminum used for the bicycle frame is supplied from China, 2,000 km away, for production in Taiwan. Then it goes to Germany by shipping container. The situation is different with the bicycle manufacturer my Boo.
The Kiel company has its frames produced in Ghana. These are also transported to Germany by ship . However, according to my Boo, they are ten days less on the road than frames that are transported from Taiwan to Germany. That means: ten days less CO₂ emissions. In addition: The frames for e-bikes and bicycles from my Boo are not made of steel or aluminum, but of bamboo. Employees harvest and process it on site in Ghana.
BAMBOO BIKES: BUT WHY?
Bamboo is light, extremely stable and has elastic properties. It is also a renewable raw material. Some varieties grow up to 50 centimeters in just one day. It is not without reason that bamboo is used in China for the scaffolding of skyscrapers. Due to the individual chambers and the thick outer wall, bamboo is extremely stable and at the same time light. The “ my Densu Cross ” model, for example, weighs only 12 kg. For the manufactory and its customers, bamboo is therefore a perfect material for bicycle frames.
My Boo makes these properties an advantage, combines them with the motor, battery and other attachments and thus manufactures bicycles and e-bikes. “There are almost 80 hours of loving handwork in Ghana in every bamboo bicycle frame,” explains Felix Habke, Head of Communications at my Boo at Eurobico. “After choosing the right pipes, they are wrapped with resin-soaked sisal ropes and connected. Afterwards, workers grind the connecting parts by hand. ”This means that the surfaces are smooth, but the pattern of the hemp ropes is still easy to see.
Then the frames come to the my-Boo-Manufaktur in Kiel. This is where mechanics assemble the e-bikes and bicycles. An e-bike can be created in four to twelve hours, depending on how individual the customer’s wishes are. Brand new in the Kiel portfolio: the e-cargo bike. My Boo presented a prototype at the Eurobico bicycle fair. The cargo e-bike is scheduled to go on sale in autumn 2022.
THE SHORTCOMING AND THE ADVANTAGE
The frame made of bamboo is really a matter of taste. In addition, the bamboo bikes are not exactly cheap. Whether a bicycle without a drive or an e-bike: Anyone interested in one of the many models from my Boo has to dig a little deeper into their pockets than with comparable models with an aluminum frame. But the bamboo bikes are not only produced in an ecologically sustainable way, they also have a socially sustainable background.
My Boo has the frames manufactured together with its Ghanaian partner, the NGO “Yonso Project”. According to the company, 40 employees in Ghana work under fair conditions. They are paid appropriately and have social security, it is said. According to my Boo, the proceeds generated in Ghana are invested locally in educational projects. In cooperation with UNICEF, my Boo launched the Bike-to-School program, which equipped Ghanaian children with bamboo bikes to cope with the long way to school.
In addition, the Kiel-based company opened a school in Ghana in autumn 2019, which is intended to give over 200 children in eight classes from the rural Ashanti region a good education. By selling the bamboo e-bikes, my Boo finances and operates the facility.
