(Photo © J. Maus)
Portlander Jake Cummings is tired of riding by trash and debris on his favorite bike routes each week, so he’s decided to do something about it. On March 20th, Cummings has planned the first “Saturday Sweep” event where he and other volunteers (like you!) will ride around the city with trash bags, brooms and dustpans on a mission for clean streets.
Cummings has about 25 people already signed up to join him and he’s got a group of volunteers from both the Showers Pass Cycling Team and the non-profit Bike Farm. I asked Cummings why he wanted to spend a Saturday sweeping up streets…
“Some people might say, ‘Why not just get the City involved, and have them clean the streets?’ That seems like a hassle, and taking care of the streets on my own is another way to make Portland feel like home.”
Here’s the event flyer:
With their bike maps close at hand, groups of 2-4 riders will focus on popular bikeways like SE Clinton, SE Lincoln, N. Williams/Vancouver, Broadway, and streets in Northwest like Johnson, Overton and Naito Parkway. Cummings says he’ll take requests for routes and assign others, hoping to cover as much ground as possible and avoid overlap.
This event reminds me a small meet-up of Portland Bike Forum members back in May of 2007. They got together and cleaned up a stretch of I-205. At the end of that event, one participant wrote, “I think we did something to be proud of.”
Cummings says he’s still hoping to hear from more groups and organizations who are willing to commit time and/or lend him some brooms and dustpans. If you’d like to help, drop him an email at pdxsweeps@gmail.com.