This is a guest post from Claire Le Hur who is cycling to China with her fiancé Stuart Block. The couple will start their journey in East Africa where they will follow new ‘silk roads’ charting the journey of key natural resources as part of an exciting new education project. Claire will be riding a bamboo bike, built by an African social enterprise and Stuart will ride a tandem, keeping the back seat free for those they meet en route. They will also be raising money and awareness for two great educational charities. Find out more about Claire’s big adventure here.
Our endurance challenge has opened our eyes to the ubiquitous issues of drought and deforestation and the importance of doing our bit to help protect the Earth’s natural ecosystems and contribute to sustainability.
Here are a few of some of the small sustainable enterprises that we have encountered on this trip…
1. It makes sense to start with my bamboo bike which P20 sun care systems is proud to sponsor as part of their ‘good and green’ initiative. People often ask ‘why bamboo’ and there are three answers: a) it looks different and stylish, b) it’s very strong and yet its natural fibres make for a smooth ride and great touring, and c) bamboo is a more sustainable and environmentally friendly material than steel/carbon fibre/aluminium which are used for mass produced bikes. You can ‘grow your bike’ in just few months!
The bike was designed by Rich Chapman in the UK who set up a business to import bamboo bikes from Africa to Europe with Stu, who came across across the bamboo bike concept on his original journey. Although that didn’t work out, Rich still works closely with Kasoma Noordin, the bike-builder in Uganda who made my frame. Interestingly, bamboo bikes are due to be displayed at the Design museum in London next month.
Kasoma building a bamboo bike frame
Khalid, Kasoma’s apprentice, showing me how to find the right bamboo
When people see my bike they often tell me about their bamboo socks or other clothing, which they say are surprisingly comfortable and useful.
2. We’ve gone one better than bamboo clothing and have been riding in Natural Peak WoodWear which is made from 90% beech wood and eucalyptus and 10% elastane. Natural Peak was started by Manu, an ex-ski and paragliding instructor who wanted to make comfortable, technical and environmentally friendly clothes. He succeeded! Our tops and leggings been comfy, moisture-wicking, much less smelly than normal tops and they even have UV protection.
Stu looking stylish in 35 degree heat in a Natural Peak t-shirt on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania
3. Sustainable loos: Avid readers of my posts will remember that back in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) we met up with two Swedes working for PeePoople to get sustainable loos to urban slums and prison in Goma. The DRC has been war-torn for many years and since 1998 more than 5.4 million people have died. More than 90% of these were not killed in combat but from diseases aggravated by displaced populations with unsanitary and over-crowded living conditions. More than 2.6 billion people or 40% of the world’s population lack access to even basic sanitation. Peepoo is a single-use, self-sanitising, fully biodegradable toilet that prevents contamination from faeces. After use Peepoo turns into a fertiliser.
4. Chocolate and smart phones: Beyond the Bike’s economic cycle is following the ‘new silk road’ and the all important south to south trade route of natural resources from African mine to Asian factory. Two products whose trade routes have been of particular interest to us are chocolate and smart phones.
Sadly we didn’t make it to Ghana where Divine Chocolate – a company which is 44% owned by cocoa farmers – starts its fair trade route, but we have been able to follow the route of Fairphone. There are around 42 minerals in a smart phone, most of which come from poor African countries such as the DRC. We made it to copper and nickel mines in Zambia and to an artisanal gold mine in Zimbabwe and 30 minutes down there was more than enough for me. I cannot begin to imagine doing an 8-hour shift with such primitive machinery but a lack of financial stability prevents further invest in small mines like these.
How fair is your phone? Workers down a gold mine
Fairphone is working to integrate materials in their supply chain that support local economies, not armed militias and to ensure that factory workers work in safe conditions, receive fair wages and worker representation. It’s an uphill struggle but they are making more progress than any other smart phone company.
The minerals are carried in lorries (often under armed guard) to the port and then shipped to Asian factory. We followed their route to the port in Durban, often being nearly pushed off the road by the huge convoys of lorries. It was amazing to see the copper trucks, which look like they have nothing on them, moving so slowly because copper is so heavy. The trucks are worth millions of dollars, hence the armed guards!
We finally made it to the port in Durban on 23rd December, ’15
There are so many different people involved in this complicated supply chain and it is great to see one company having a social conscience about this. We hope to visit the Fairphone factory in China…
The final point about sustainability from Fairphone is rather than throw your old phone away you can upgrade for free each year. With a Fairphone you can mend most parts (unlike apple phones where there is an ongoing debate as to who owns the IP). The landfill sites for mobile phones and electrical equipment is another tragic story.
Taking a Fairphone apart to mend is very easy
While people do bang on about the environment it is something that we cannot and should not shy away from. The people we have met, sights we have seen and products we have used have made us even more aware of the importance of sustainability. Likewise, we should all be more concerned about the effects of deforestation and drought.
In Zambia we followed the Zambezi from its (dried up) pitiful source to the awe-inspiring Victoria Falls. We saw evidence of great drought and of the amazing abundance that water can bring. But it made us wonder, can this water last for ever? There are already high issues with the Kariba dam. In Asia we are currently following the Mekong from Phnom Penh up to China and we have already heard about the problems with new Chinese-built dams. We can’t get away from the staggering power and importance of these rivers. Who knows, if things continue this way, the next World War could well be a ‘Water War’.
