I just got a nice comment from the author of ThumbShift, a new cycling blog out of Toronto, on my piece in Spacing Ottawa about abandoned bikes. She (I will assume she) also details what happens to these bikes in Toronto on her own blog, at least as far as "held 30 days and then disposed of." What "disposed of" means she doesn't know, and I'm not going to guess. Although it's possible that Crown Assets Distribution gets them there too, or something similar. I doubt they're just piled up into containers and shipped off to China to end their existences in recycling mountains. At least, I certainly hope not.
And I'll take the smidgin of Ottawa envy, too. With the faintest of smiles.
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Hi Kate (and Mike ;-)
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, those bikes are actually are ending their days at the City Dump, because it would be bureaucratically tricky (their words, not mine) to give the derelicts to a specific party... To perhaps strip them for parts, and at least recycle them for scrap metal...
I'll be following up with the Superintendant of Transport Services though, to see if there's anyway that (perhaps) a non-profit group could be allowed to recycle these carcases!
Wow. The City Dump, really? Yeah, more power to you on finding a way to salvage them! Check out beCyCle.org.uk for that Aberdeen outfit I found out about, and an Ottawa co-op called reCycles (they're in my links list) that recycles bikes and gives repair lessons. . . there have got to be places like that in Toronto as well...
ReplyDeleteOne would hope so. Otherwise, it's one more aggravating factor in their own waste issues. :-(
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