Bikes, Bamboo, and an Epic Cross-country Adventure = Alabamboo Make and Ride
Alabamboo Make and Ride is a program devised to help support the economic initiative of growing bamboo in Alabama. In June, 2011, four young cyclists convened in Greensboro, Alabama to build their own bikes out of bamboo. They then rode those very bikes across the country on a two-month adventure, stopping along the way to share the story of Alabamboo, and celebrate sustainability and alternative transportation. Arriving in San Francisco last week, they will celebrate their accomplishments tonight with a party at Bamboo Bike Studio.
Scout Books + Pinball Publishing sponsored Nicole Lavelle, one of our beloved Pinball team members, with a large supply of Scout Books + a Portland made wool bicycle jersey.
More About Alabamboo (from the Alabamboo website):
The United States is the largest importer of bamboo in the world, with no domestic, commercially available supply of its own. Our goal is that Alabamboo will one day represent the largest domestically available resource. Bamboo is a valuable and sustainable alternative for many products including textiles, wood floors, furniture, and paper products. It is also one the most efficient carbon-sequestering plants in the world. There are many misconceptions about bamboo and the truths make it more of a miracle plant than a nuisance. There is already a growing movement taking place in Alabama and we want to be a part of sharing the story.
The Impact of Alabamboo (from the Alabamboo website):
An effort is underway to build a workshop in Greensboro, Alabama that will be the future home for building bamboo bicycles. This facility will create jobs and empower local residents with access to affordable and sustainable transportation options. The bamboo bike facility and cross-country bike ride is a small part of what Alabamboo is aiming to accomplish. HERO is working with Marsha Folsom, wife of former Alabama Governor Jim Folsom, to develop this ride as one part of a much larger bamboo initiative. Marsha is helping lead a movement to have bamboo grown as a sustainable agricultural crop in Alabama in partnership with Washington-based Booshoot Gardens. BooShoot has developed technology to produce bamboo tissue culture for propagating bamboo rapidly at a large scale—and Alabama is ripe for growing it. We branded the initiative “Alabamboo” as the first step to making Alabama mean bamboo the way Florida means oranges, Idaho means potatoes and Maine means lobsters.
What an amazing adventure!
Images Courtesy of Nicole Lavelle
