Biketour in Broddetorp

Broddetorp is a small village of about 140 inhabitants somewhere between Vättern and Vänern, the two big lakes of Sweden. The Biketour spent the night from the 22nd to the 23rd of July there. Broddetorp got our attention when we were looking for anti-mining groups in the area (there is a lot of uranium and rare earth mining projects going on in that region). We found a group called Nej till Uranbrytning and got in contact with their member Birgitta. A coincidence for such a small village, it turned out that a former participant of the Biketour also lives there. Birgitta was very…

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Biketour visiting JAK member’s bank

On the 22nd of July, Biketour passed by Skövde on the way from Bossgården to Broddetorp. Skövde is a small town of 35 000 inhabitants somewhere in the middle between Vättern and Vänern, the two big lakes of Sweden. It happens to be the place where JAK Medlemsbank, a members-owned alternative bank, was founded in 1965 based on the concept of JAK Denmark, which has existed since 1931. Knowing some alternative banks from other countries, which are a part of the capitalist system just like any other bank, except that they invest their money into more social and sustainable projects, it seemed…

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Links #2 – Vio.Me blockade, COP21, bicycle repair man

Vio.Me successfully blocked and postponed the auction where the factory is supposed to be sold. Vio.Me is a soap factory in Thessaloniki that was squatted by its workers in 2011 and has since been run as a cooperatively and democratically self-organised organic soap factory. We were there with the Biketour in 2014. In Paris, the COP21 (the 21st Climate Change conference of the UN) has started. It will officially last until the 11th of December (but is expected to last longer, like the previous conferences). France already announced in the beginning of November to close its borders in prospect of hundreds of thousands…

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A thank you note

This is a lengthy goodbye letter that I hadn’t had time to write before I left the tour and a thank you note that has been brewing in my head for the last two months and now it has turned into an account of how I felt during and after the bike tour. I didn’t get enough of Ecotopia goodness and the regret over the fact that I could have stayed longer and didn’t, still haunts me. I have no photos to accompany the text but following Charlie’s blog post I’ll attach a song too – one that’s way more…

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d-d-d-d-d-DUMPSTER DIVE

( This blog post is set to the sound of this song – https://zdradapalki.bandcamp.com/track/dumpster-diva ) http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Dumpster+Diva – Dumpster Diva definition Noun: A gorgeous dumpster diver possessing excellent diving skills. A teacher and leader in the movement against waste. Someone who brings the truth of horrific waste to the forefront of the movement against poverty. Usually has a side-kick with her so she can carry more and dive safely in dark places. I want to write a bit about one of the ways this years bike tour (I’m not sure about the previous ones, this was my first year) has fed…

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