Fossil Free Friday - Cargo Bikes in the Media (WooHoo!)

[This one is for those of you who've been going through Mesquite-Hugger-Cargo-Bike-Post withdrawals]

 

What you'll find in this thrilling episode:

• a new Yuba (that's not a longtail)
• a review of an old friend - the Radwagon
• and a bit of Xtra teasing

 

The New Yuba

 

Yep, Yuba did a big ol' reversal by offering a new bakfeits-style cargo bike - The Supermarché. This is the first Yuba I've seen where the load goes in front of the rider. You can learn more and see it in action on Wired or you can check it out on the Yuba site. (Me, I still want the Yuba Boda Boda V3 stepover or a plain old $999 Yuba Mundo.)

 

Check it out on wired.com

 

Even if you're not really interested in that particular cargo bike, the Wired video still does a nice job of going over what a cargo bike can do and how effective it can be in helping us drive less, pollute less, and spend less. Good stuff!

 

The Radwagon

 

And then there's the $1599 Radwagon (now with free shipping!) If you've spent much time around here, you know I have a big ol' crush on the tangerine banana bike from Seattle. Check out the recent article in Men's Journal:

 

Men's Journal article here

Since I am married to a lovely woman who really, really

wants a Ducati Monster, I had to include this quote.

 

PS. Rad Bargain alert: Radpower has the

Ballard Bag on sale for 1/2 price right now. 

 

The Xtra bit of news...

 

...is that I received an email from Xtracycle this week, and it contained some very Xciting words: New Bikes Coming Soon. I am staying tuned and will let you know!

 

Your Xtracycle random montage

 

May ditching your car become more and more common and may we all breathe easier and curse a lot less.

 

Mesquite Hugger Opposites Day: Lots of Free Stuff or Pursue Minimalism?

Yesterday was a day of much inspiration in the Mesquite Hugger office complex. Besides the Treehugger article about carbon-eating gardens and a really long Endless-Sphere thread about the validity and controversy over the Storm Ebike, my brain was also kharmic-ly b*&^%-slapped by two more articles. These two were about the stuff in our lives.

The first came from Keith. He and I have both been busy lately, so we mostly communicate by sending each other cool articles. He definitely won this round. I don't post them often, but I follow articles about dumpster diving. They always seem to play into the epidemic of food waste. Well, he sent me one about a guy in Austin who dumpster dives behind non-food retailers. It mentioned finding lots of profitable stuff for resale and for building cool stuff like electric mini-choppers and electric skateboards. And it dealt in financial numbers significant enough to put a Mesquite Hugger family member or two through college. (Wowser!) It's a long article, but definitely worth the read - and a little too inspirational for a guy who loves alleys like I do. It came from Wired magazine. (Don't quit your day job!)

The Pro Dumpster Diver Who's Making Thousands Off America's Biggest Retailers | WIRED

 

While reading it, I could just picture the mountains of cool stuff one could garner for virtually no money. My dreams of minimalism slammed into the stony mountain of stuff!

 

Then I ran across an article on Green Living Ideas that offered me a bit of help.

 

Minimalist Mindfulness: The 30 Day Minimalism Challenge

 

This article challenged me to do things like declutter my digital life, participate in a no-complaint day, and clean out my closet. It also encouraged me to downsize my beauty collection, but I wasn't sure if I should give up my soap, my shampoo, my deodorant, or my toothpaste. (My officemate would encourage me to skip that particular step.) Overall, however, if you are considering doing some kind of cleanse, a person could do vastly worse than this 30 day list.

 

So, what's it gonna be? Put on the snorkel and flippers in preparation for diving OR invest some quality time in cleaning out the old brain? Whichever you choose, may it help us all to have a better life.