By Ezriel Gelbfish – Algemeiner.com:
Israeli entrepreneur Izhar Gafni has created a bike prototype manufactured from recycled cardboard, making inroads in green technology with a vehicle that is lightweight and low-cost. The bike sports a simple aesthetic, an outer coating that protects it from water, and a groundbreaking cost of 9-12 dollars for raw materials, which will convert to an estimated retail price of 60-90 dollars per bike, depending on the optional features added.
The vehicle was inspired by a video about a cardboard canoe, from which Mr. Gafni expanded to biking, a primary means of transportation in his native kibbutz, or communal settlement, in Israel’s Negev desert. “I heard about the guy who built a canoe out of cardboard.. [and the idea] was sitting in the back of my head and I couldn’t let go,†Gafni said in a video documenting the bike’s construction. “Suddenly it just struck my mind: why not make a bicycle out of cardboard?â€
The entrepreneur says his diverse work background, including jobs in biomedics and technology, provided him with the skills to design the bike, which was a process he said many discouraged him from pursuing.