Simpler bike designs and materials are better for the environment. Plus: FairPhone maker releases high end headphones. Also: Consumer Reports weighs in on microwave repair or replace.
Maybe it's too far outside the scope of this article, but there are some localized effects of pollution to take into account when comparing bicycles to cars as well. After the manufacturing impact is done, and the product is in a customer's hands, the localized impact of a city full of bikes (say Portland, OR), and a city full of diesel pickups with 'friends of coal' bumper stickers (say Knoxville, TN) is quite different!
I live in Knoxville, and I'll be enjoying the weather outside at my favorite bar while my team plays trivia tonight. Even though this bar is in the most walkable, bikeable part of the city, our conversations will get interrupted every 2 minutes by motorcycles, pickup trucks, and muscle cars rip by us at full throttle. We wait for the noise and cloud of diesel smoke to clear, and then carry on until it happens again, 90 seconds later. Even the trivia guy with his massive PA speaker has to repeat half his questions every Tuesday night, because the moment someone with an aftermarket exhaust spots a crowd, they're unable to resist putting on a performance. But it's home, what can you do?
Sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant, but you have a good point that there are many aspects of product lifecycles we might not normally think of. I'm still riding a 30 year old Fuji with a hard suspension, but unbreakable frame. Throw a lithium ion battery into the mix and that lifespan changes quickly.
Thanks for citing Kris's article!
Many good reasons for paying attention to the sustainability of bikes.
- Bart at Resilience.org (and bicyclist)
thanks for sharing! will check out resilience!
Maybe it's too far outside the scope of this article, but there are some localized effects of pollution to take into account when comparing bicycles to cars as well. After the manufacturing impact is done, and the product is in a customer's hands, the localized impact of a city full of bikes (say Portland, OR), and a city full of diesel pickups with 'friends of coal' bumper stickers (say Knoxville, TN) is quite different!
I live in Knoxville, and I'll be enjoying the weather outside at my favorite bar while my team plays trivia tonight. Even though this bar is in the most walkable, bikeable part of the city, our conversations will get interrupted every 2 minutes by motorcycles, pickup trucks, and muscle cars rip by us at full throttle. We wait for the noise and cloud of diesel smoke to clear, and then carry on until it happens again, 90 seconds later. Even the trivia guy with his massive PA speaker has to repeat half his questions every Tuesday night, because the moment someone with an aftermarket exhaust spots a crowd, they're unable to resist putting on a performance. But it's home, what can you do?
Sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant, but you have a good point that there are many aspects of product lifecycles we might not normally think of. I'm still riding a 30 year old Fuji with a hard suspension, but unbreakable frame. Throw a lithium ion battery into the mix and that lifespan changes quickly.