Bike Durham Community gathers to clean up sections of Ellerbee Creek Trail.
May 1, 2021, was an appropriately sunny Saturday for the first unofficial day of spring and the start of Bike Month. That afternoon, 12 members of the Bike Durham community, in conjunction with the Department of Parks and Recreation, spent two hours cleaning litter from sections of the Ellerbee Creek Trail.
Bike Durham Board Member Danielle King.
One group tackled the section of the trail from North Pointe Drive to Westover Park, while the other took on the section from North Point Drive to Broad Street. Because these segments are next to I-85, as well as several major shopping areas, they tend to accumulate bottles, cans, paper, and other forms of litter (for example, masks, these days). If not collected, the litter not only damages the natural areas of the Ellerbee Creek Trail, it can get washed into Falls Lake, which is a source of drinking water for neighboring communities, as well as a wildlife habitat and recreation area.
Among those who participated in the clean up were Charlie Reece, Durham City Council Member At-Large (sporting his city of Durham mask), and two civic-minded kiddos who greatly enjoyed using the pincer-like litter grabbers. After two hours of collecting, it was gratifying to pile up the bags of trash for collection, and even more gratifying to eat the mini-pies provided by Tiny Pies of Austin, Texas: cherry, apple, pecan, and Texas two-step! If only all good deeds were rewarded with pie.
Check out all Bike Month events on our calendar here!