This London pedestrian bridge is entirely manual, with a hand crank to open it for boat traffic. In the video, the architects also discuss how the haptic feedback provided by hand cranking allows issues to be identified and prevents damage. Thanks to Mathew Lippincott.
DIY Wooden Bike Trolley
October 6, 2022 by Filed Under: Bicycles, Bikes, DIY, Human power, Pedal power, Random, Travel
Marie Verdeil made a tutorial for a simple wooden bike trolley. It is available in English and French on the Low Tech Lab wiki.
Method to create a simple bike trolley, using up-cycled materials. Easily fixated to every bike (adult size). Holes on the board help attach any kind of cargo. It’s made out of wood and simple hand tools, no welding required. Dimensions are detailed and can easily be adapted to the material available.
I tried to create a trolley, which can replace the car to go to the market / grocery shopping. No need to transport heavy cargo, but big objects (cardboard boxes, crates, wood, etc.) – Therefore it needs to be easily adaptable, with the option to fix a crate on the board. + Priority goes to second-hand materials!
Bike Powered Water Pumps
May 16, 2022 by Filed Under: Human power, Water, Water management
The Spanish NGO Azada Verde works with rural communities in Mozambique to develop sustainable and local food systems. Their bike powered water pumps save the local population much time fetching water. The pumps each supply 10 litres of water per minute. So far, 67 bike powered water pumps have been installed.
All images by Azade Verde.
Human Powered Neighbourhood: The Community Kitchen
July 1, 2020 by Filed Under: Human power, Random
It’s 2030 and the 14,000 residents of the first carbon neutral neighbourhood in the Netherlands gather at the communal fires, where they cook and eat together.
Read more: Human Powered Neighbourhood: The Community Kitchen.
Amish Hand-Demolish Building in Tennessee
July 15, 2019 by Filed Under: Amish, Buildings, Human power, Random, Reuse
Who to call when you need your building “hand-demolished”? To the general public, “Amish” often equates to handcrafted – meaning hand-milked cows, handmade quilts, hand-built furniture, and the like (whether that perception is always accurate is another question).
And in that spirit, one Tennessee city found that an Amish hands-on approach was exactly what they needed to remove a historic structure. The Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle reports that an Amish crew of workers has been deconstructing the city’s 140-year-old Hodgson/Dabbs building, brick-by-brick.
Read more: Amish Hand-Demolish Building in Tennessee, Amish America, June 27, 2019. Image by Henry Taylor for the Leaf Chronicle.
The Complication of Leisure
January 25, 2019 by Filed Under: Archery, Human power, Random, Sports
During the past two decades there has been a disturbing trend in American sports, a trend in which our “toys” have evolved from the simple to the intricate. No matter whether it’s boating, bicycling, skiing or backpacking, the goal seems to be the same: to improve the performance and efficiency of the equipment. Outdoor equipment today becomes “obsolete” after only a season or two, made so by the constant introduction of newer, more sophisticated models.
Manufacturers of recreational equipment — who have the most to gain from the complication of leisure — spend millions to promote “new, improved” products. And at what cost to our sense of fun and play? We seem so bent on results — on being “successful” — that we often forget why we took up a particular sport in the first place. In other words, play is beginning to look more and more like work. And, at the same time, the price tag on our toys has gone sky-high.
One of the primary benefits of using traditional archery gear — aside from saving lots of money, especially when you make your own gear — is that it promotes a sense of fun and encourages a carefree spirit. Archers who go traditional always seem to agree that once they make the switch, archery is once again exciting.
Quoted from the introduction to “The Traditional Bower’s Bible, Volume One“, Steve Allely, Tim Baker, Paul Comstock, Jim Hamm, Ron Hardcastle, Jay Massey, and John Strunk, 1992. Image by Clay Hayes.
