bike planting Archives - Friends of Trees

Biking Our Way Into the New Year

Why take a car when you can take a bicycle? The Eugene Branch has always taken that mindset and incorporates bicycle crews into every neighborhood planting event.

“We have some really dedicated bike volunteers,” says Eugene-Springfield Program Manager Taylor Glass. “That’s how we can always have a bike planting crew.”

Bike crews are able to transport trees and tools from the staging site to planting locations by using bicycle trailers. In addition to our own trailers, Hummingbird Wholesale often joins us for a planting with their large electric-assisted bike trailers so that we can transport even bigger loads.

Using bikes instead of cars is a reflection of our desire to take care of our environment, and it makes perfect sense to reduce emissions at a bike planting. Beyond that, it’s just plain fun.

“I just love it,” says Eugene Director Erik Burke. “It’s so fun to see the look of amazement on people’s faces when a whole crew rides past hauling big trees. And when treecipients see us pull up, they’re so surprised to see we biked their tree over.”

To give even more community members a chance to participate as a volunteer on two wheels, The Eugene Branch partners with a local bikeshare, PeaceHealth Rides, to have their bikes available at events and free to volunteers. In the past, we’ve had about one event per year with PeaceHealth Rides, but this year we’ll have three! The first will be on January 7th.

With success, fun, and enthusiasm from volunteers, Friends of Trees hopes to have more and more bike crews at plantings in every community we work in.

By Ian Bonham

Bike planting: it’s carbon-negative!
(photo: Greg Raisman)

We ride our bikes a lot here in Portland.

You ride your bike to work. You ride your bike to the grocery store. You ride your bike while eating a vegan donut with cereal on top. You even ride your bike in a sea of naked people.

So it only makes sense that, here in the Pacific Northwest, you also get to ride your bike while planting trees on Saturday morning (fully clothed, of course–it’s cool out there!).

Here at Friends of Trees we’re snapping our rain fenders back on, refreshing our rain gear, and pumping up the tires on our trailers in preparation for another season of planting trees–on our bicycles!

We need your help! Let us know what role works best for you: tree planter, tool carrier, tree chauffeur, or some combination of the three. Meet your neighbors, get some exercise, and beautify Portland & Vancouver neighborhoods all at the same time. And let’s not forget the breakfast coffee and treats, as well as a potluck lunch to fuel you up!

Bikes, Trees, and happy planters. (photo: Greg Raisman)

Bicycling crews transport all of the trees, tools and people to various homes in the neighborhood to plant trees that will ultimately absorb CO₂ and mitigate stormwater runoff—as well as a host of intangible benefits.

2015 Neighborhood Bike Plantings (sign up here):

1.24.15 :: Laurelhurst, Kerns, Sunnyside, N. Tabor (SE Portland)
1.31.15 :: Piedmont, Woodlawn (NE Portland)
2.14.15 :: Boise, Eliot, Humboldt, King (NE Portland)
2.21.15 :: West Vancouver Neighborhoods

If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Jenny Bedell-Stiles or Ian Bonham at [email protected] or use our volunteer hotline: 503-595-0213.

—Ian is the Volunteer & Outreach Program Specialist for Friends of Trees.