Bikes Not Bombs uses the bicycle as a vehicle for social change.
We reclaim thousands of bicycles each year.
We create local and global programs that provide skill development, jobs, and sustainable transportation.
Our programs mobilize youth and adults to be leaders in community transformation.
Our Guiding Principles
The Bikes Not Bombs community:
- Addresses the root causes of inequality, violence, and oppression
- Supports the self-empowerment of individuals and communities as a means to achieve sustainable, effective social change.
- Includes all people in the social change process in order to challenge the forces and effects of systemic oppression
- Acts in solidarity with our local and international partners because this leads to collective understanding and strength
- Commits to sustainable, equitable consumption of resources as critical to the health of our communities and our planet
- Is courageous and bold in the face of injustice
- Uses the bicycle as a powerful vehicle and tool for social change
- Celebrates and builds upon the existing strengths of our partners and participants.
Each year we collect roughly 6,000 used bicycles and tons of used parts from our supporters around Greater Boston and New England.
We ship most of these bikes overseas to economic development projects through our International Programs in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Bikes that don't get shipped often land in our Youth Programs where teens learn bicycle safety and mechanics skills in the process of earning bikes to keep for themselves.
Our retail Bike Shop also reconditions and sells some of the donated bikes that we receive, employing many graduates of our programs. The Shop's profit from the bicycle sales, parts sales, and repairs goes towards funding our youth and international work.