If you don’t like those noisy, smelly bin lorries then we have a better way of transporting waste. We replace lorries – that sometimes do as little as 6mpg – with pedal power. We believe we’re the first organisation in Scotland to move waste through using specially customised cargo bikes, with cyclists providing a CO2 free way of moving waste – and think of the savings in fuel costs! Our bikes are particularly successful where lorries might conflict with people and we are expecting to see waste moved by our bikes at several music festivals and events this year. The bikes don’t carry as much waste as a lorry, but they improve recycling rates by keeping recyclates separate, and even if we have to make more journeys than a lorry, you don’t need to refuel us and pay those horrific petrol pump prices.
Our key project idea proposes a new friendly way to collect and dispose of food waste which will reduce the number of waste Lorries driving down our high streets and will reduce carbon emissions. It is so original we think we may be the first in the UK to try this!
We will use the recycling bike, a three wheeler cargo bike, which will be pedaled by a group of community volunteers to collect the food waste from restaurants, take away and food shops in Giffnock, and cycle it to a digester where it will be turned into compost. The compost will be donated to the local park, allotments or local gardeners.
You may have seen this bike at Festival 2014 where we first tried it out. It carries smaller loads than lorries, but there are only small quantities to be removed. So instead of waste lorries, which generally do around 6mpg, driving around a quarter full, we will cycle the waste to the digester, pollution free, and without clogging up the traffic.
