CRP bike fund-raiser is on a roll!

“There’s a second life for bicycles. I don’t think you should be throwing them away.”
~ Clean River Project founder Rocky Morrison

 

Rocky Morrison never wants to see a used bicycle go to waste.

The founder of the Clean River Project organization in Methuen, which works to clean and preserve a 45-mile stretch of the Merrimack River, has been collecting donated bicycles to clean and repair – using the proceeds to support the non-profit’s mission.

“The public wants to see their (old) bikes being used,” Morrison said. “They don’t want to throw them away in a junkyard. It’s a great way for them to help out the organization.”

CRP collects adult and children’s bikes – “even ones with training wheels,” he said – and sells them at his organization’s site, 1022 Riverside Drive. Prices typically range between $10 and $50.

Bike buyers and donors have come from a variety of local communities, including Methuen, Andover, North Andover and Chelmsford.

People can barter, Morrison said, but he does not want to “get into” trading. Some people drop off bikes and make a purchase. Some are looking for certain bikes to rebuild.

“You’ve got your collectors, you’ve got guys who want to build them, and you’ve got the serious ones that want to go on the rail trail,” he said.

People interested in dropping off or making a purchase are asked to call CRP in advance. Visitors will receive a tour of the facility, Morrison said. People can also call to make arrangements to have donated bikes picked up.

“We’ve gone to houses and picked up over 10 bicycles, 10, 20. People have a lot of bikes and they want to pass them on. It could be one bike to 20 bikes,” Morrison said.

A few years ago, the organization began a program in which it took bikes pulled from the river, decorated them and rented them out to businesses. Current photos and information on the bike rentals can be seen on the group’s website, cleanriverproject.org. Decorated bikes include those themed for Christmas, Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day.

Morrison said people, during COVID, learned about the decorated bicycles and expressed interest in donating bicycles to the group.

One man at CRP, who does slight maintenance on the bikes to make sure they are in working order, divides them into three groups.

“If there is a small adjustment (needed), he’ll make the adjustment, and put them on the racks, keep them local,” said Morrison, adding that other bikes are set aside for parts or to be shipped to Haiti and Africa. The group has a couple of contacts who take bikes – donated or pulled from the river – that “seem to have a second life” and send them to Haiti or Africa. They make donations to the group.

The Merrimack River, which flows through 15 cities in northern Massachusetts, serves as a water supply for more than 600,000 area residents and is a popular waterway for outdoor enthusiasts, according to the non-profit.

CRP was started in 2005. Because of its efforts, the organization says, “riverbanks have gone from being covered with debris to the beautiful beaches they were more than 100 years ago.”
Over the years, the group has pulled car engines, household appliances, furniture, construction barrels, tires and more. Scavenger hunts are held annually. A 2007 “tire pullout day” saw 583 tires being removed, and nearly two dozen vehicles were found underwater that year. They were removed by state police as part of a training program, according to CRP.

CRP seeks to partner with schools and companies that are interested in helping clean up the river and accepts financial donations.

“People have bikes just sitting around their garages and basements. They don’t know what to do with them,” Morrison said. “They don’t want to throw them away. We get classic bikes, expensive bikes, all walks of life.”

Morrison said he believes his organization has sold a few hundred bicycles so far. Once a week, the group drives out to pick up donated bikes.

Morrison wants the public to know that there’s a good alternative to scrapping bikes or throwing them away.

“There’s a second life for bicycles. I don’t think you should be throwing them away,” he said. “We take everything. If we can’t use it here, they can probably use it in Haiti or Africa.”