Green bikes reintroduced as part of RecycleMania

On Tuesday, March 13, the Office of Sustainability hosted a transportation celebration in the Forum where they re-introduced the green bikes to campus, displayed a Chevy Volt and its refueling station and had informational transportation games for students.

The event was part of "RecycleMania," an eight-week, nation-wide competition designed to make campuses more environmentally friendly through energy conservation, waste reduction and increased recycling. The competition started Feb. 5 and continues until March 31. Megan Zanella-Litke, LEED(R) Green Associate Sustainability Coordinator, said that the University of Richmond is currently in second place in the bottles and cans recycling competition.

"Last year, we were first in the state of Virginia," Zanella-Litke said, "so that's my goal for the university this year too. I try and only compare us to other schools in Virginia because on a national scale, our rankings aren't quite as reflective of the effort students and faculty are putting in."

This is the first year the university has had a comprehensive Transportation Day celebration, Zanella-Litke said. In past years, they've done events that only captured one or two programs done by individual offices. The goal this year was to raise awareness about all the transportation-related resources we have on campus, Zanella-Litke said, and to give credit to the many offices that work to provide those services to everyone on campus.

The Transportation Day celebration included games like "Who Wants to be a Transportation-naire?" and other informational activities. Free stickers and mood pens (made from recycled newspaper) were also given out, and the new green bikes--which are actually yellow--were displayed. Students were allowed to grab one and go as they passed by the Forum.

"Today's event was one of several sustainability themed events at the university this semester," Zanella-Litke said. "The next will be this Saturday's CA Alternative, which will be Crafting with Recycled Materials. Today we were also fortunate to have an alum bring a Chevy Volt to campus - it was a great opportunity for folks on campus to check out the new technology and learn a little more about EV (electric vehicle) charging stations--we have two on campus near Weinstein Hall."

Parker Hawkins, a Richmond senior who works with Recreation and Wellness on bike maintenance, was also present to blow up tires for people who brought their own bikes or to chat about the new and improved green bikes.

"These bikes are much sturdier than the previous models," Hawkins said. "I've been test-riding them in some pretty rough situations and have been impressed by their durability so far."

The bikes have been in storage during the winter months, but have remained an issue on campus for the past few years mostly, Hawkins said, because they end up broken or at the bottom of the lake. Hawkins hypothesizes that most of the damage takes place on weekend nights, with the most common form of damage in past semesters being to the spokes of the rear tire.

"The rear tires would be a mangled mess by the time I found them," Hawkins said. "This problem will hopefully be solved with these new ones. The frame is thicker, and the bike generally seems to be less destructible."

Recreation and Wellness provided Hawkins with a golf cart, which serves as a sort of "bicycle ambulance." He uses it to pick up any damaged bicycles he finds on campus--this year, there are more than 47 bikes to keep an eye out for. Each bike has a unique identification number, but there is no sort of tracking device installed on the bikes, so it is hard to keep track of all the bikes.

The strangest place Hawkins has ever found a University of Richmond green bike?

"I was driving through Carytown and saw one chained to someone's house," Hawkins said. "I remember thinking, 'That is definitely not yours.'"

To learn more about RecycleMania and check on our ranking, visit http://www.sustainability.richmond.edu/initiatives/recycling/recyclemania.html.

Contact reporter Anika Kempe at anika.kempe@richmond.edu