Joyful Bamboohay - Bryan Benitez Mcclelland

President & CEO, Bamb Ecological Technology Inc. Co-Founder and Managing Director, Philippine Artisan Trade, Inc.

- Justine Bernice Basco

Before Filipino-American Bryan McClelland founded Bambikes in 2010, he knew little about bamboo and what more it can do. As an outdoor adventure sports enthusiast with a passion for the environment, he wanted to spend his life outdoors and do something to protect critical environmental areas. Over time, with the right people by his side and by continuously learning about bamboo and local goods, Bambike and the Philippine Artisan Trade came to be and has grown since.

You were born and raised in the United States but decided to settle here. What brought you to the Philippines?

I was finishing up a master’s thesis in sustainable community development and the project was focused on work here in the Philippines. As I began working with communities and getting in touch with my roots—since I’m half Filipino—I got to know my mom’s family and other relatives and I felt like I really wanted to get to know my Filipino side better.

How did Bambike start?

There was a bamboo bike project in Ghana that I felt was also possible to do in the Philippines, so I didn’t invent the idea for bamboo bikes, I only brought the technology. We built our first bamboo bike in 2009. It was an interesting business model for the beneficiaries of the community development project I was working on and it rapidly utilizes renewable resources. Plus, Bambike was a fun enterprise idea—build something that makes you feel like a kid again. It keeps me young because every day I ride a bike and build things.

Why bamboo in particular?