More than 100 students and community members will work with the University of Oregon’s Outdoor Program to clear trash and recyclable materials from Eugene’s bike paths by bicycle, enjoy local refreshments and win prizes at the inaugural BicyClean event.
BicyClean will take place from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 24, beginning at the EMU Amphitheatre on the University of Oregon campus. Volunteers will enjoy a snack and join a team. From there, teams will split up to clean sections of Ruth Bascom River Path, Fern Ridge Path and Amazon Path.
“The bike paths are some of our greatest resources in Eugene. Whether you’re young or old, this is a wonderful way to get around Eugene safely,” said Laughton Elliott-DeAngelis, Outdoor Program service projects coordinator. “It is our duty to help preserve this public space.”
The Outdoor Program has a long history of service in Oregon, but has recently put a greater focus in this direction. In 2012, a position was created specifically targeting service and creating service projects.
“Service has always been a large part of the Outdoor Program” Elliott-DeAngelis said. “This year I have had the opportunity to embrace that with beach restoration, trail building, and now, BicyClean.”
Several businesses in the area are very excited to see this project come together. Brew Dr. Kombucha, De Casa Fine Foods, Jaunita’s Chips, KIND Healthy Snacks and Nancy’s Yogurt will be supporting the thank-you event with refreshments immediately following the service project. Many local outfitters and bike shops also donated prizes and raffle items to honor the volunteers.
Volunteers can sign up for BicyClean on the Outdoor Program’s website or by contacting Elliott-DeAngelis at lelliot3@uoregon.edu.
About the UO Outdoor Program
The Outdoor Program (OP) Cooperative was born in 1967 when a few UO students began posting notes to share rides and gear for outdoor adventures. Since then, the OP has grown into a thriving program of trips, events, gear rentals, resources, as well as bike events, loans and self-service maintenance shop.
About BicyClean
The project, BicyClean, was born as a way of giving back to the City of Eugene. More than 5,000 students bike to campus each day, and many of them use the bike paths. The idea was to find a way to take care of the bike paths as sustainably as possible. This project realizes the opportunity to systematically take care of all of the bike paths in a single day once a year.
MEDIA CONTACT: Laughton Elliott-DeAngelis, UO Outdoor Program Service Projects Coordinator, 503-347-5426, lelliot3@uoregon.edu
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