“Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime.”

Award-winning bike designer, Craig Calfee, decided he could apply that proverb to bicycles and help people in the developing world.

Realizing that bamboo grows throughout most of the developing world, and is strong and flexible, he designed bamboo bikes that can be built and maintained by people in remote areas.

The bikes are low-maintenance and give people in small villages the ability to travel to cities for work, school, or medical care.

“While donations of food or medicine can help in extreme situations, bicycles enable villages to build their own economies and connect with resources beyond their own area.

The fact that bamboo is one of the most eco-friendly, renewable resources on Earth makes these bikes even better!

For more info, visit Bamboosero.com.

If you know a bit about bikes and building things, check out instructables.com and find out how to build one yourself in just one weekend! Live in New York? You can sign up for a weekend workshop where the cost covers materials and help from pros at bamboobikestudio.com