Yesterday my friend opened the new issue of Vanity Fair and screamed, "YES! Bikes are the new must-have fashion accessory of the season!" Sure enough, he showed me the new DKNY ad on the second page that showed a well-dressed buxom blond cycling across the Brooklyn Bridge. In fact, DKNY, has parked orange bicycles all over NYC to show their solidarity for the green movement (and, probably, do a little advertising for fashion week).
Here in my little corner of the world, almost every day I see a cyclist pedaling against another oil war--yes, I live in San Francisco, but I imagine wherever you are, there's someone in your community who's doing their part to combat climate change through their transportation choices. Besides that, bikes are a great way to get yourself from place to place and not worry about parking your car or the bus showing up on time. They provide great exercise, and they're a lot less expensive than cars.
In other corners of the world I rarely see, people's use of bikes is less a solution that favors conveiniance, exercise, making an environmental statement, or selling clothes ---it's a way of life. A team of designers from Menlo Park recently won the "Innovate Or Die" design competition with their Aquaduct, Mobile Filtration Unit. The Aquaduct serves communities who travel to natural fresh water sources to get the water their families need for cooking, drinking, and bathing. The Aquaduct team's solution is elegant, simple, practical, and downright cool. I have a feeling I'll read about this in next year's NYT awards for the best ideas of the year. This idea certainly tops my list!
Here's the Aquaduct (makes those orange bikes look pretty shabby, eh?:
