When I first wrote about my life with a Blix Aveny e-bike, I spent almost as much time talking about the basket on the front, the luggage rack on the back, and the in-built lights that literally never run out of charge as I did the very capable electric motor. And that was for good reason. While the presence of electric assist is a huge, ahem, boost—especially in car-centric traffic—I am also a big believer in bikes that are built for practical, day-to-day jobs. 
I was excited, then, when Blix reached out to see if I’d review the Blix Packa Genie—a beast of a cargo bike that we previewed a few weeks back. Before I get into my experiences with this monster, here are some highlighted features: 

xrebellionuk

IT’S HAPPENING NOW⁣ (sound on)⁣
Over the last month we’ve seen major cities flooded, we’ve seen famine caused by rising temperatures, species have continued to go extinct, and extreme weather events have disrupted communities.⁣
WE’RE IN A CLIMATE EMERGENCY⁣
Over the last weeks thousands of people from all across the UK have come together to take mass nonviolent civil disobedience, to pressure the government to act now to stop the harm, starting with ending all new fossil fuel investments, and to invite a citizens’ assembly to come to the table. We need a group that is representative of the UK to decide the policies and protections we need now as we face code red warnings from scientists, health experts, industry, and international government panels.⁣
CHANGE IS NOW⁣ #ActNow #ComeToTheTable #ExtinctionRebellion⁣⁣
Rebel For Life⁣ ⁣Extinction Rebellion⁣ Links in bio for how to join us⁣

One in five Europeans are exposed to harmful levels of noise pollution, and this number is set to rise in the next decade, with road traffic the biggest culprit, a new study has shown.

Excessive noise can cause physical and mental illness, and is associated with higher levels of heart disease, stress and sleeplessness. About 12,000 premature deaths are caused by noise in Europe each year, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA), while noise contributes to about 48,000 cases of ischaemic heart disease.
Wildlife is also affected: a study last year showed noise hampers birds’ ability to communicate, and can stop them from mating.

Andrew Gregory
Exposure to noise from road traffic and railways is associated with an increased risk of dementia, according to the largest study of its kind.
Research has consistently linked transport noise to health conditions including heart disease, diabetes and obesity, but studies on transport noise and dementia were scarce and small, and findings inconsistent.
Now an “impressive” study involving two million adults, conducted over more than a decade, has concluded that people living in areas with transport noise face a higher risk of dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease. The findings were published in the BMJ.

A Wandsworth councillor has requested an urgent meeting with the principal of a school in the south London borough after it emerged that pupils are banned from cycling there, with bicycles featuring on a list of prohibited items that includes drugs, knives and pornographic material.

Local groups have sprung up all over Islington to campaign for safer, quieter streets, cleaner air and to support the Council’s drive to create Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) aka People Friendly Streets in Islington-speak. We currently have nine sub-groups with active websites, and thousands of members, Twitter and NextDoor supporters. Our sub-groups actively collaborate with numerous other community groups, and we hold events to celebrate the liberation of our local streets from through traffic. Our members and supporters have grown so much that we decided it was time to come together under one name – say hello to Low Traffic Islington!
Show your love for Low Traffic Islington with our Green Heart poster. Let the Council know you are one of the thousands of Islington residents who want safer, quieter and healthier streets for all.

On one level, the Siberian fires are part of an annual cycle. But many climate experts see the staggering scope of this year’s fires as another sign of greater fire risks on a warming planet that is potentially being made even hotter by huge carbon emissions from the blazes.
Siberia’s fires are pumping huge amounts of carbon into the atmosphere
Russia is fighting more than 190 forest fires in Siberia that have closed airports and roads, forced widespread evacuations and sent a pall of smoke across the North Pole. But it has abandoned dozens more fires covering thousands of square miles, with no effort to fight them.
As Russia faces one of its worst fire seasons, environmentalists say there is little urgency about an event that officials play down every year.