Aggie Blue Bikes Works to Create 'An Even Lighter Footprint'

Aggie Blue Bikes has a legacy of sustainability and is Utah State University’s voice for a stronger bike culture. They remain an advocate by participating in groups such as BPAC (Bike/Pedestrian Action Committee), the USU Bike Advisory Committee and the USU Sustainability Council. Its mission is to get people on bikes more often, a mission motivated by Cache Valley’s poor air quality. Aggie Blue Bikes is dedicated to this mission by participating in “share the road” campaigns and by offering free bike services to Utah State University students. They actively participate in sustainability by reusing donated bike parts and encouraging staff and patrons to recycle responsibly. 

As a bike repair shop, they collect numerous bike parts, some of which cannot be recycled and are too worn to safely function on a bike any longer. Aggie Blue Bikes is searching for a use for these parts that would prevent the act of throwing them away and inevitably adding to the Logan landfill. USU students Emily Daybell and Meghan Abbott, are working with Aggie Blue Bikes to create a permanent partnership between Stokes Nature Center, USU Fine Arts Department and Aggie Blue Bikes to solve this conundrum. The plan is for the used bike parts to be collected and utilized in art projects, thus giving them a brand-new sustainable purpose. Stokes Nature Center would implement these parts in an arts and crafts lesson during the camps they hold. The USU Fine Arts Department would have the opportunity to use the parts as unique materials in sculpture classes. 

This is important because it would ensure that these parts would stay out of the landfill and would even create an opportunity to facilitate lessons in sustainable practices such as up-cycling. Reusing products instead of purchasing new ones not only benefits individuals financially but benefits our community by decreasing the amount of waste that finds its way to our landfill. Using bike parts for art will help increase awareness and encourage members of the community to think about what else in their lives could be reused instead of disposed.