It’s been a decade since Royal Mail decommissioned its fleet of delivery bicycles in favour of hand carts and diesel powered van drops. It’s a shame because other European countries continue to use specially adapted cargo bikes to deliver the mail in a sustainable, healthy and quiet way.
If there’s a silver lining to the decommissioning of the UK cargo bike postal fleet it’s the emergence of Elephant Bikes – a firm that refurbs the old Pashley-made cargo bikes for sale. Better still, an ethical slant on ‘buy one get one free’ sees a bicycle sent to Malawi for every one sold here in the UK.
Prices start at £430 – see cycleofgood.com for more details.
Deutsche Post continues to use cargo bikes to deliver mail
Elephant bikes – buy one, give one
The Elephant Bikes ‘buy one give one’ scheme has helped ship thousands of ex-postal Mailstar bikes to Malawi. The African workshop employs eight local people to repair and service the donated bikes from Britain. They are then sold to Malawians who can travel to work, transport goods to market and travel miles to school or college. Bikes in Malawi can be life transforming and often mean an income for life. Profits fund care for pre-school children in the heart of the township.
In the UK, it costs the firm around £250 to collect, store, process, shot-blast, powder coat, transport, purchase spares/baskets, do a final quality check, sell and package/post each bike. When a bike is purchased 100% of the remaining £80 (based on a £330 sale) is used to ship bicycles to Malawi. This represents at least 1 bike (almost 2 bikes) sent to Malawi for every bike sold here in the UK.
The ethical choice
The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Over 30 years on, we continue to offer cycle insurance, breakdown cover and mobility scooter insurance while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.
The Good Shopping Guide judges us to be the UK’s most ethical provider.
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