Recycle Cycles: Community Development in Motion

By Karin Kliewer

Published September 2000

Bicycles build community. Bicycles give ownership and pride. Bicycles provide affordable transportation. Bi­cycles allow access to work. Bicycles mean freedom. Bicycles contribute to cleaner air quality. Bicycles are intergenerational and multicultural. Bicycles link us with history. Bicycles allow opportunities for education. Bicycles allow us to savour our travels around town. Bicycles are fun.

The idea of taking old, unused or discarded bicycles, repairing them, and making them affordably available in the larger community, is not a new concept. In Ontario alone, in cities like Windsor, Toronto, Ottawa and Kitchener, there are at least six com­munity bicycle organizations that are run by volunteers who are providing reconditioned bicycles at free or mini­mal cost to those in need. As well, other innovative community initiatives are being developed around these not-for-profit bicycle centers. For exam­ple, programs such as youth outreach through repair workshops, or the bike-lending program known as “yellow bikes” are taking off at full speed. These are based on the insight of vol­unteers who find ways that bicycles can fill the “niches of need” that come up in their own neighbourhoods.

This kind of initiative and energy was also behind the advent of Recycle Cycles, started in 1993 by several University of Waterloo students who were affiliated with WPIRG (the Waterloo Public Interest Research Group). As one of these founding students, Jan Franssen, explained, Recycle Cycles’ main goal was “preventing unwanted bicycles from going to the landfill, pro­moting cycling as a non-polluting transportation alternative, and making bicy­cles/bicycling more accessible to mem­bers of the community.”

During its seven years with WPIRG Recycle Cycles moved location sev­eral times, with the earliest donated bicycles at first finding refuge in base­ments and backyards, then being housed in the basement of the Water­loo Community Arts Centre, and next settling in a downtown Kitchener warehouse location. Most recently, Recycle Cycles again relocated to find a home in the new community centre at 43 Queen Street.

It was in November 1999 that Re­cycle Cycles began its official affilia­tion with The Working Centre. Work with Recycle Cycles was undertaken by fifteen participants with a Youth Services Canada (YSC) employment project administered by The Working Centre. The participants collaborated with previous Recycle Cycles volun­teers to either repair or recycle the over­load of donated bicycles that had built up in the shop. When the YSC project ended in April 2000, the coordinators of the YSC project were hired to share one full time position working with Recycle Cycles and the Arts Space at 43 Queen. During the summer bicy­cle season, their work has been com­pletely devoted to Recycle Cycles.

During May, coordinators met with both past Recycle Cycles volunteers, gaining their perspectives and insights, as well as introducing them to the Working Centre. Contact was also made with a volunteer-run bike shop at the University of Waterloo, a local bike shop that has been very support­ive of Recycle Cycles in the past, and other bike shops located in the down­town Kitchener area. Discussions were also held with the Mennonite Coali­tion for Refugee Support, to ask how Canadian newcomers might benefit from Recycle Cycles. To help distrib­ute the children’s bikes we had on hand, contact was made with the lo­cal Children’s Needs Distribution Centre. A local bike safety group, CanBike, was informed about future plans for Recycle Cycles, and a booth at the local Multicultural Festival was a great opportunity to let the public know that Recycle Cycles was operat­ing — and that we welcomed volun­teers.

In preparation for the move, we undertook the difficult task of organ­izing the parts and eliminating unus­able parts or those that were in exces­sive quantities. Over 2,100 pounds of metal were recycled. The shop moved on July 11, and the physical transition to the second floor of 43 Queen Street was made easy with over sixteen vol­unteers helping for the afternoon.

In order to create a safe, efficient and comfortable work space, we have built and painted two tool boxes, a rack to hold tires, another rack to hold parts, and seven bike racks. We are espe­cially proud of the bike racks, which were built from the pipes of the third floor sprinkler system — metal that would otherwise have been waste. The bike racks are freestanding and portable, to increase the flexible use of the space. Bicycle parts have been sorted, organized, and labeled for easy access — especially helpful to the less experienced mechanics. The Work­ing Centre has covered our start-up costs, allowing us to purchase a chop saw, fume bin, vise, eyewash station, first aid supplies, and assorted tools necessary to open an adequate and safe recycled bicycle shop.

Since then, the Recycle Cycles vol­unteer base has grown substantially. In the past, four volunteers predomi­nantly ran the shop. Currently, there are over 20 volunteers, 8 of whom are involved on a regular basis, ranging in age from 14 to 60. The volunteers come from a diversity of backgrounds: for example, university students, re­tired community members, high school students fulfilling community volun­teer time, and through The Working Centre and the Volunteer Action Cen­tre. The hands-on work and friendly atmosphere of the shop has welcomed many people who are less able in other arenas. We are looking forward to the possibility of having co-op high school students, as well as Katimavik partici­pants working with us in the fall.

Two training sessions were held in July to increase the knowledge of our volunteers in bicycle repair, and ongo­ing training sessions around “trouble­shooting” repairs will begin in the fall. Our volunteer meetings, often with potluck foods, are lively and have been very well attended. The resulting wealth of ideas and collaboration has created many innovations and im­provements in the shop. We have now established and documented a clear bicycle refurbishing procedure. This is complimented by illustrated and thorough bike manuals and trouble­shooting guides.

Recycle Cycles volunteers have been collecting and sorting bicycle tubes as part of a sustainable transpor­tation project to send bicycles and parts to Cuba. We are collaborating with a community bicycle organization in Toronto, The Community Bicycle Network, and delivered over 75 re­usable tubes to them for shipping in August.

Since May, the shop has been open two or three days each week. At least one day has been devoted to the pub­lic, for either purchasing a bicycle or will be expected in both their seminar presentations and their essays to use own. During this time we have had over 150 visitors to the shop, performed over 50 public repairs, sold over 15 bi­cycles, and given over 30 bicycles away for little or no donation to those in need. Of these donated bikes, 25 went to children aged 4-14. The Children’s Needs Distribution Centre and the Mennonite Coalition for Refugee Sup­port have been very helpful in having parents call to request a bike, so that volunteers can prioritize fixing bicycles for specific children in need.

As well, a Recycle Cycles first time riders instruction session was organized with a local CanBike instructor. Seven female newcomers to Canada were eager to participate, especially since they were not offered the opportunity to ride a bike in their home country. Recycle Cycles repaired their bicycles or provided them with a bike if they lacked one. The training was a suc­cess, and we hope to hold more ses­sions in the future.

Undertaking the creation of the new space for Recycle Cycles in col­laboration with volunteers has offered everyone a sense of ownership of the shop and has been a real team build­ing experience. With most systems and furnishings in place, and trained volunteers on hand, we are now in the position to focus on repairing bicycles for community benefit. As we con­tinue to become established, we also hope to develop further outreach bi­cycle programs and provide a base where advocacy around local sustain­able transportation issues can happen.