IN A time when more people are biking to work, the Ksan House Society has put a new twist on the practice of two-wheeling — biking at work.
Using a donated bicycle and cart, volunteers will be cycling to various places to pick up waste organic material.
The material will then be taken back to the society’s community greenhouse next to its Hall St. shelter and fed to worms.
“Worms make a very pure kind of compost. It’s highly prized,” said Marianne Brorup Weston, who develops community-based projects for the society.
“Our interest here is not only compost for our greenhouse but compost we can sell.”
The bike came from Brad Harrison, a Bench-area resident who regularly refurbishes older bicycles, and the cart is being built by another volunteer, Norm Larson of Thornhill.
Harrison got into the habit of refurbishing bikes after coming up with an idea for his two children for Earth Day several years ago.
“We ended up making bikes and both rode to school on Earth Day on those bikes,” he said.
Harrison now scours garage sales and keeps an eye open when going to the dump for bicycles and bicycle parts.
“There was a young fellow in my daughter’s class who needed a bike and then a girl in my son’s class,” said Harrison of how his bike philanthropy took shape.
Brorup Weston asked Larson to build the cart after he built a rickshaw for a Terrace Little Theatre production.
Ksan isn’t the only place to emphasize bicycles on the job – Northwest Community College does as well.
Its Terrace campus has two adult-sized tricycles used by workers to get from one place to another.
They also have “a beautiful red wagon that they use for transporting equipment around campus, all to avoid using motor vehicles,” says Debra Wall from the college.
Bike to Work Week is May 28-June 3 and a local committee is encouraging as many people as possible to convert to two wheels for that week and beyond.
“Biking to work is a great way to take in some of Terrace’s fresh air and to save money on fuel,” says Chris Gee from the non-profit Skeena Bicycle Service.
“Terrace is a great city to bike in; starting and finishing a workday with cycling no only relieves stress but is a great way to stay in shape,” he said.
The Skeena Bicycle Service will be at the farmers market May 26 to provide a basic bike assessment and tune up in advance of the official May 28 start of Bike to Work Week.