RIPPL #53: Mumbai Ice Cream Trike – Guest Post by Vijay Malhotra

A version of this article was originally posted by Indian cycling blogger Vijay Malhotra on his excellent website Pedal and Tring Tring.


by Vijay Malhotra

Sanjay Sharma arrives at Carter Road, Bandra, to sell ice creams from his cargo trike. The 38 year old is seen at the same spot every night from 9pm to 3am, serving local tourists and people who visit the area for evening walks. Families travelling in cars and motorbikes often stop by to eat ice creams with their children. His bright red tricycle can easily be seen from afar as he mostly prefers to stand under a street lamp.

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RIPPL #52: Dropper – Dropping it like it’s hot

This is the third in a series of RIPPL articles supported by Gemeente Groningen. To celebrate the International Cargo Bike Festival, which took place in the city this June, we’re taking a deep-dive and focussing on how cycle-logistics works in this city of bikes.

Groningen-based startup Dropper recently announced a partnership with PostNL (the Dutch post office) to deliver postal packages by bike in Groningen. This development is just the latest chapter in Dropper’s remarkable rise from dynamic startup to fully-fledged, multi-disciplinary cycle logistics business. The move also goes hand in hand with the city of Groningen’s push to achieve emission-free city logistics by 2025, and PostNL’s own goal to deliver emission-free in 25 Dutch cities – also by 2025. Continue reading “RIPPL #52: Dropper – Dropping it like it’s hot”

RIPPL #45: Sainsbury’s – back in the saddle after 60 years

Sainsbury’s, one of the UK’s largest supermarket chains, has begun a cargo bike pilot scheme. A fleet of five Sainsbury’s-branded e-cargo bikes based at a store in Streatham, South London, will deliver online orders of groceries to customers within a three mile (5km) radius. Continue reading “RIPPL #45: Sainsbury’s – back in the saddle after 60 years”

RIPPL #40: Our Top-5 Trends and What’s Next

The RIPPL project has been running for a year now; so what better time to look back and reflect upon what we’ve discovered? We’ve picked out our top 5 most interesting trends so far.

Firstly though, our thanks go not only to you, our readers, for reading, but also to the 39 initiatives we’ve featured so far for sharing their valuable ideas and experiences with us. Later in this article we’ll also give you a taste of what is coming up for the RIPPL project. Continue reading “RIPPL #40: Our Top-5 Trends and What’s Next”

RIPPL #38: Marleen Kookt – Meals on Two Wheels

Marleen Kookt is an Amsterdam-based meal delivery business founded in 2012 by Marleen Jansen and Joris Keijzer. Following a 6 month sabbatical spent in Majorca, during which Marleen experimented with various recipe ideas, they returned to Amsterdam. Finding that they did not want to return to their office jobs (both have backgrounds in large-scale retail) they started Marleen Kookt (Dutch for ‘Marleen Cooks’). Continue reading “RIPPL #38: Marleen Kookt – Meals on Two Wheels”

RIPPL #30: La Tricyclerie – the circular economy, à la pédale

La Tricyclerie is an initiative based in Nantes, France, which collects organic waste from local businesses on cargo tricycles and bike trailers. The waste, which comes from 30 restaurants in three Nantes neighbourhoods, is collected by a team of volunteers. Twice-weekly collections add up to an estimated 20 tons annually, which is taken to local composting facilities. All collections are weighed, with the business or restaurant’s contribution tracked. Continue reading “RIPPL #30: La Tricyclerie – the circular economy, à la pédale”

RIPPL #25: Food Justice by bike in Colorado and beyond

Denver and Boulder, two American cities about 50km apart, are nestled at the feet of the Rocky mountains in Colorado. They have plenty in common, even in terms of cycling culture; for example, both cities host regular ‘Cruiser Rides’ which look like great fun (check them out here Denver Cruiser Ride, and here Boulder Cruiser Ride).

The two cities are also home to Food Rescue organisations Denver Food Rescue and Boulder Food Rescue, both of which use volunteer-ridden bikes with trailers to collect food which would otherwise be discarded from grocery stores.

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RIPPL #23: Gruten – turning coffee waste into soap… and how bikes are involved…

Launched in 2014, Gruten is a small business which collects coffee waste from cafes in Oslo on an e-cargo bike. The bike has a name – Hurtigruten, after a Norwegian cruise ship operator. The coffee waste is used to produce hand made natural scrub soap and as compost for growing mushrooms. Continue reading “RIPPL #23: Gruten – turning coffee waste into soap… and how bikes are involved…”