Most people give up on bike riding if the smallest part of their bicycle falters instead of attempting to solve the problem for the sake of environmental awareness. This leads to the wasteful abandonment of bicycles
Although it had a place on Clemson’s campus over 10 years ago, the ReCyclery club was not officially revitalized until October of 2024. Grace Nammouz, president and co-founder of the Clemson ReCyclery, explained her passion for being environmentally cautious regarding the issue of deserted bicycles.
“It was personally so important to me to revamp this club because after seeing the pile of abandoned bikes in the parking services lot, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much of a waste it was but also how much potential there is in getting these bikes to students, faculty, staff and community members,” Nammouz said.
The Clemson ReCyclery was also co-founded by Trevor Romans, who wanted to find a healthy method of recovering bicycles while also cultivating a community around bike riding. Romans shared the same goals as Nammouz concerning repurposing bicycles, reducing waste from the bikes collected by Parking and Transportation Services and creating a space for students, so the two were able to refurbish the club together.
“My primary goal was to foster a community where students could feel a sense of belonging and share or develop their enthusiasm for bicycling in a safe, judgement free and collaborative space. I wanted to empower students to learn new skills, exchange experiences and contribute to a more environmentally sustainable and active lifestyle,” Romans said.
Now fully up and running, the Clemson ReCyclery holds meetings once a week from 5 to 6 p.m. on Fridays at the Andy Quattlebaum Outdoor Education Center. They also have group bike riding sessions throughout the semester for students with a shared interest to engage in.
“Our group rides are open to anyone, and we usually ride around Clemson’s campus, for example, at the Botanical Gardens, so it is accessible to everyone,” Nammouz said, “In the future, we hope to have more regular group rides planned and to explore places outside of Clemson as well because it is a wonderful way for people to become comfortable riding a bike and a way for all of us to get to know each other better.”
The Clemson ReCyclery is actively seeking to improve bicycling conditions for students and staff of Clemson University, as well as the local Clemson community.
In the future, Clemson RebCyclery hopes to get involved in non-profit volunteer work with establishments in South Carolina that value the same environmental and activity standards. The club also aims to partner with student organizations that practice similar sustainability measures.
“The Clemson ReCyclery has truly meant so much to me as a Clemson student because it has allowed me to help bring people together from all different backgrounds into a space where we can learn from one another as we try to make Clemson University’s campus and the surrounding community safer for bicycle commuters and to give those that do not have the means to buy a car, or similar transportation, a way to get around Clemson,” Nammouz reflected.
The Clemson ReCyclery has been able to interconnect the issues of environmental sustainability, lack of transportation and lonely bike riding with their reworked club structure. They are always welcoming new members with interests in even one of these matters.
“The Clemson ReCyclery is open to anyone at all who is even the tiniest bit interested in bicycling, as we’d love to help anyone learn how to ride or fix a bike,” Nammouz said.
