Luc Horne was bringing his recycling to the ecocentre in Vaudreuil-Soulanges Tuesday when he noticed a huge pile of bikes, tangled and intertwined with each other.
“My main concern is that the bikes are in a heap and many could be damaged from being ‘stored’ like that. There must be a better way.”
He posted a picture of the bikes on Facebook, asking: “symbolic of a society of over-abundance?”
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Horne suggested that, instead of bringing their bikes to be recycled, Montrealers could pass them along to family, friends or neighbours who need them.
“My posting was not intended to be a criticism of the ecocentre or Vaudreuil, but more about the actions of people,” he explained.
Thursday, the ecocentre told Global News that it also noticed the growing pile of bikes being left at its door by residents.
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The plan is to donate them to Le Zèbre Rouge, which is why they had been put aside as they awaited pickup.
“Le Zèbre Rouge will repair and resell the bikes,” said Julie Cassab, a spokesperson with the ecocentre.
“The organization is really proactive. They took the initiative to set aside the bikes; most of them were in good shape, so for sure they always try to find different ways to reuse or recycle, give another life to objects. That’s the vision, the objective, of our policy.”
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The organization’s bike repair program, which was created in 2010, aims to employ people with mental and/or physical disabilities.
The money made from reselling the bikes will go to funding the organization’s programs.
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