Going Green: A Chain Reaction

By Carlyn Andersson
Washington

As we were on our regular Sunday bicycle ride in Rock Creek Park recently, we noticed there had been a massive cleanup. Most noticeably the thousands of plastic bags that had blanketed the park for years were gone.

Much later, we did encounter one last bag blowing along the path. Suddenly, the breeze blew it our way, and it became tangled in my partner’s rear derailleur and chain.
It was so enmeshed that his bike would not work. We tried to pull out the pieces of plastic, but it was hopeless.

The derailleur broke in two, and the chain became a twisted hunk of metal. We had to walk our bikes home and take the bike to the shop for repair the next day.

The last plastic bag!