Recycling Bikes. Transforming Lives.
Our Mission
Cyclo Nord-Sud collects used bicycles for vulnerable communities, furthering social and economic development, with an environmental perspective, through local and international projects.
Our International Mission
Since its founding in 1999, Cyclo Nord-Sud has delivered more than 62,000 bicycles to 22 countries in Africa and Latin America, principally to rural areas where transportation issues are greater.
In the south, a bike is used by five to ten people, besides its owner, and has a lifespan of more than 20 years. It can carry more than ten times its own weight.
The basic parts (frame, handlebars, drive, wheel spindles) are resistant and are less likely to break. The operating parts (tires, inner tubes, brake and pad cables, chain) are inexpensive, interchangeable and easily accessible on the market.
Even when they are dysfunctional, bicycles and their parts can still be useful in making different tools such as water pumps, washing machines, winches, generators, fans, grinding and sharpening mills, etc.
An Active Local Presence
Our actions don’t stop there, as we develop projects for local communities. The Vélorution Saint-Michel project offers services with the purpose of encouraging and enabling daily cycling in the neighbourhood. It offers introductory cycling sessions, bicycle mechanical training, cycling trips, and many other services!
The Beginning
Cyclo Nord-Sud is an initiative of the Société d’éducation pour le cyclisme à Montréal, a non-profit organization founded in 1988 by Claire Morissette, leading figure of the Quebec environmental movement and co-founder of the carsharing service Communauto. History reveals us that the bicycle was, at the end of the nineteenth century, an important tool for the liberation of American and European women. Find out more.
