In a world that is running faster and faster and where recycling is not practiced as much as it should be, seemingly banal questions sometimes arise, when they are not at all: what happens to used bicycles that no one uses anymore? Today we want to share with you three important solidarity projects that see used bicycles as protagonists of a new life: are you ready to discover them with us?

Used bicycles: 3 solidarity projects

Transforming used bicycles that would end up forgotten into new opportunities for other people is certainly a beautiful gesture for us and for the environment. For this reason, today we want to reveal to you what are 3 two-wheeled solidarity projects really to be taken as an example and inspiration.

Project Milleunabici

The first collaboration between the Sollicciano Penitentiary Institute, the Municipality of Florence and the Ulisse Cooperative dates back to 2000, which gave birth to the Milleunabici project.

What does it consist of?

Abandoned bikes from municipal deposits were repaired and restored by prisoners in the prison workshops and then put back into circulation. In addition to recycling bikes, giving them a new life, this project was aimed at social recovery through the work of prisoners. A similar project is that of Catoni Associati, a Florentine advertising agency particularly sensitive to social issues: Piedelibero Ricicli is a project where ethics meets aesthetics, creating beautiful bikes and at the same time supporting the work of prisoners.

Project Ciclofficina

The Ciclofficina project also answers the famous question what happens to used bicycles.

Designed by Arci Solidarietà and promoted in Livorno, this initiative aims to enhance young foreign asylum seekers who become the material creators of this project. They are the ones who take care of old bicycles donated by anyone: they take care of the repair and, once they have returned to new life, the bikes are sold at absolutely popular prices.

Project BiciclABILE

Finally, we cannot fail to mention another beautiful inclusion project: BiciclABILE is a project born in March 2016 with the idea of recovering broken bikes and fixing them up, thanks to the work of disabled people inserted in the city's day centers. A real chance for disabled people to get involved and a different way for all of us to perceive disability.

What happens to used bikes?

These 3 solidarity projects that we wanted to share show concretely how much can be done to improve the living conditions of individual people and the planet itself. Transforming old bikes and giving them a new life means investing in the work and commitment of people, creating a circularity that is as important as ever in this period. What happens to used bikes? Now we have a beautiful answer to give ourselves: let's learn to take an example and make, the noble art of recycling, a daily practice healthy and shareable!

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