Environment

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Environmental and ecological discussion, particularly of things like weather and other natural phenomena (especially if they're not breaking news).

See also our Nature and Gardening community for discussion centered around things like hiking, animals in their natural habitat, and gardening (urban or rural).

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Can We Make Bicycles Sustainable Again? (solar.lowtechmagazine.com)

submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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A great read+great magazine.

TL;DR: Old bikes last way longer than new bikes. From a production standpoint, steel bikes have a smaller carbon footprint than aluminum or carbon frame bikes. Conventional bikes use fewer consumables over their usable life than electric bikes. Among electric bikes, cargo bikes use the most resources to run and maintain.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (2 children)

the real tl;dr

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

So the least efficient bicycle is about half that of the average car. I'll take that. Since the lifetime miles traveled on any bike is going to be at least an order of magnitude less than the average car miles traveled, infrastructure and lifestyle changes to replace car reliance with bike reliance are hugely beneficial from the perspective of reducing carbon emissions.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Does this mean that the carbon impact of soda cans is significant?