Islabikes Imagine Project – the dawn of a new era?

Have you ever stopped to consider what happens to a kids bike when the owner has outgrown it? Some (the better made and longer lasting type) may get resold on Ebay or passed on to siblings and friends, but eventually the vast majority will end up in landfill.  Same as virtually everything else we own – as a consumerist society we buy, use and bin at a startling rate. Everything from bikes and cars to phones, clothes, toys and fridges are designed to be upgraded frequently and the previous model discarded.  This model of consumption isn’t sustainable, and for the sake of our children and grandchildren, something needs to change.   I was therefore really pleased to hear about a new initiative: Islabikes Imagine Project.

Launched today, Islabikes Imagine Project will take the concept of manufacture, ownership and disposal of kids bikes and attempt to make this much more sustainable.  Starting with a small scale model, kids bike specialists Islabikes aim to design, manufacture and rent out childrens bikes that are suitable for the daily ride to school.  When the current rider has finished with them, Islabikes will refurbish and re-rent, with the Imagine Project’s Utopian vision being a kids bike that lasts for ever.

As part of the Imagine Project, Islabikes will look at how bikes used to be made in an era when things were made to be mended rather than trashed.  Islabikes aim to work with collaborators in an open source environment to ensure that the new Imagine Project range of kids bikes is as sustainable and long lasting as possible.

We’ll be catching up with Islabikes founder Isla Rowntree on Thursday at the 2016 Cycle Show to find out more about how Islabikes Imagine Project will work in practice, so don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook to find out how we get on.

In the meantime, here is a link to a video that explains more about Islabikes Imagine Project:

Further details of Islabikes Imagine Project , and how to get involved in shaping this new circular economy can be found at http://www.islabikes.co.uk/imagineproject