Portraits of Grenoble

January 10, 2023

IMAGE: LUCAS FRANGELLA

IMAGE: SYLVAIN FRAPPAT

Gloria Leroy

PEDALLING INTO THE HEART OF THE PEOPLE

After reading about bicycle taxis, Gloria Leroy established her Mon Coursier de Quartier (My Neighbourhood Courier) company in 2015. The service quickly became a success.

"I knew from the start that there was a demand for transport on a human, local scale, "she says, explaining that she saw a gap in the market for personal transport services, particularly for "fragile and vulnerable" citizens.

Pedicab? Taxibike? Call it what you will, Gloria sets out on it around 38 times a week, Monday to Saturday—and sometimes Sundays too—transporting children, the elderly, or anyone requiring a mobility solution. She also makes deliveries, transporting correspondence and goods.

"The advantage with the taxibike is that I'm outside, and people can see that the service exists and how I can help," says Gloria, who is also co-president of Boîtes à Vélo Grenoble. People certainly do see—including the Communal Centre for Social Action (CCAS), which analyses citizens' social needs and implements the City's social action policies. In 2018, the CCAS contracted Gloria, and Cécile Jayet of Cycle Urbain, to reserve slots for transporting the elderly residents of Résidence Autonomie Saint-Laurent at reduced prices, funded by a grant from AG2R La Mondiale.

"With the bicycle taxis, we are directly in the heart of the city and the hearts of the people, " says Gloria, but she is too modest: her actions have put her in people's hearts. During the pandemic, she transported people to vaccination centres and encouraged essential businesses such as pharmacies to accept phone orders, letting her deliver the goods to help keep residents safe. Social responsibility is just as important to her as environmental sustainability. "The city belongs to everyone, and there must be no obstacles to getting around."

IMAGE: MU'ETHIK

IMAGE: JEAN-SÉBASTIEN FAURE

IMAGE: AURIANE POILLET VILLE DE GRENOBLE

Antoine Laperche

THE PEDAL-POWERED PLUMBER

Breton Antoine Laperche started his career in various environmental, social and cultural sustainability roles before following his grandfather Robert into plumbing. As a keen cyclist and environmentalist, he did his apprenticeship in Nantes and with Ze Plombier, a company whose plumbers used bikes to get around the city. He also became Volunteer Treasurer for The Tricyclerie, an association collecting bio-waste by bike trailer.

However, the Covid-19 lockdown made Antonine and his wife, a teacher, realise they missed being close to nature. They considered her transfer options and chose Grenoble. It was here that Antoine set up his own plumbing and heating business in autumn 2021, called Robi Plumbing in a nod to his grandfather. And like his fellow members of Boîtes à Vélo (Bike Boxes), an association of entrepreneurs using pedal power, he travels to his jobs by bike.

Because Grenoble is flatter than Nantes, he's opted for a standard cargo bike rather than an electric one. "It's quite easy to get around Grenoble by bike without getting too exhausted!" he says. But he admits that "exercising this profession by bike requires a bit of logistics." His smaller tools can be transported in the front trunk of his cargo bike, but boilers, radiators and bathtubs have to be towed in a trailer. He sometimes also asks the supplier to deliver equipment directly to the worksite.

"Many plumbers refuse to work by bike because of the rain and the cold, but in my opinion, there are many advantages," he says. "No traffic jams, no parking problems, no petrol costs, and in between jobs I can relax on my bike!"

IMAGE: MU'ETHIK

IMAGE: MU'ETHIK

Vincent Gelin & Adrien Reguis

FULLY ON-BOARD WITH SUSTAINABILITY

Vincent and Adrien are co-founders of the prize-winning company NoK (short for 'Not OK, an industry term for products that don't pass quality control). NoK takes snowboards—either defective, or used and damaged—and turns them into high-quality ecological products.

In their time as product engineers for Rossignol snowboards, they made prototypes of skateboards from defective snowboards—not a new idea. But what was new was their growing realisation that thousands of hard-to-recycle snowboards were being burnt, thrown away, or left disused in storage. As snowboarders, skaters and nature-lovers, they decided to combine these passions with a desire to promote a more circular and responsible economy.

In their workshop, they use the middle of the snowboards to make their colourful, trademark, high-quality skateboards. They estimate that each board they produce saves 20 kg of CO2. The remaining material isn't wasted. It's upcycled to produce unique versions of everyday products, such as phone holders, clocks, keyrings, coasters, and framed mirrors. Production is eco-friendly and responsible too. Ecolabel marine varnish is used to protect the boards' edges against damage and humidity, and only 100% recycled cardboard and paper are used. NoK works with local companies that support people with disabilities to assemble and package the boards. It also donates 10% of its sales to Mountain Riders and Protect Our Winters, both environmental protection associations.

Vincent and Adrien now offer the NoK PRO service too. They create bespoke signs, displays and other objects for companies, made from end-of-life sporting goods from their partners and timber that's either recycled or sourced from responsibly managed forests.