Fall weather is right around the corner! Get inspired to ride by watching our latest video showing two Friendship Trays volunteers delivering food by bicycle!

We were fortunate to have had the opportunity to partner with Friendship Trays for our June 6 Mega Mixer and are happy to support their work to provide healthy food to those in need in our community!

If you'd like to support their work and Charlotte's biking community, check out Tour De Turns on August 27! Learn more and register here.

Charlotte's Solid Waste Services has launched the innovative Healthy Communities program to help lower-income and majority-minority communities increase their recycling rate and throw away less food waste! 

Our Education + Outreach Director, Meg Fencil, was interviewed for this recent article in Next City about her work through our Sustainable Neighborhoods Program. She has led health and wellness efforts in addition to recycling and anti-littering campaigns in communities in the West Boulevard Corridor, where Healthy Communities is focused. 

“In general, there’s often high turnover in communities where most of the residents rent their homes. Many people may have never been taught to recycle, or apartment complexes in many of these communities don’t offer it...Residents [we’ve worked with] know that it’s not just a matter of what goes in the trash… communities care about neighborhood pride and beautification. They also care about their health”, Fencil says.

Learn more about how both the city and Sustain Charlotte are empowering residents to create a healthier future! Click here to read the Next City article by former Sustain Charlotte intern Sherrell Dorsey. 

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It's officially less than two months until we'll be celebrating the Fall and our beautiful city at Biketoberfest!

For just $10 ($25 includes an event t-shirt), you can participate in this unique, family-friendly event that highlights the excitement and ease of exploring our beautiful community on bike! 

This event is for all ages and abilities, plus, there's no charge for anyone under age 18 (who registers with an adult)! Click here for event details.

We're happy to announce our newest event sponsors: Crescent Communities is supporting Biketoberfest as a Platinum event Sponsor and Moore & Van Allen and Craft Tasting Room and Growler Shop will be supporting as Silver Sponsors! We're proud to have their support of this event and our community! 

Local residents like you play a critical role in ensuring we have the resources to carry out our work in the community to inspire choices that lead to a healthier and more vibrant community for generations to come! Click below to be the change and become a sustaining member today!

*Membership at the $5/month level includes a free Sustain Charlotte T-shirt (made of 100% recycled material by our Gold Partner Recover)!*

#ibikeCLT Campaign Update:

* We presented this petition to Charlotte City Council on Monday, 7/25! Click here for details and next steps! *

1,732 people have signed our online statement of support and over 1,500 have signed offline.

Over 3,000 local residents are asking Charlotte City Council to approve a protected bike lane through Uptown, connecting Irwin Creek and Little Sugar Creek Greenways! Add your name and join them! 

Help reduce waste in our communities by participating in the Goodie Hack [Health]!

This fast-paced 3-day event will take place at Industry Charlotte at AvidXchange Music Factory on Aug 19-21.

The purpose of this event is to create healthier neighborhoods by developing tech-enabled solutions that help people manage their waste better. Through Goodie Ideation [HEALTH], the community developed seven big ideas that need prototypes built to bring these solutions to reality!

Click here to register.

Accidents Are on the Rise in Charlotte, but Ambiguous Data Makes it Hard to Place the Blame [Creative Loafing Charlotte]

"CDOT released its annual Traffic Collision Data (TCD) report last month, and the numbers paint a startling picture for our ever-growing city: 27,648 non-highway collisions were documented in 2015, a more than 20-percent hike from the year prior... So what's the problem? What factors are actually responsible for the increase in collisions?" We agree with what's suggested in this article -- that CDOT needs to look more closely at road design to improve the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, and motorists. We're working hard through our #ibikeCLT campaign to educate by design by encouraging our city to invest in infrastructure improvements like protected bike lanes! 

Redeveloping Second Ward’s Brooklyn Neighborhood Will be a Balancing Act with History [The Charlotte Observer]

"The plan to redevelop Second Ward's Brooklyn Village includes 1.77-acres of open space, but it will eliminate the 5.4-acre Marshall Park....[M]any think the new development should include a larger park on par with First Ward or Romare Bearden parks. 'The most troubling piece for me is the reduction of the park. I’m still not convinced that’s the right way to go,' one attendee [of a recent town hall meeting] told the developers." We are excited that Second Ward will become home to a walkable mixed use neighborhood, but want Mecklenburg County to provide a sufficient and equitable-sized park in Second Ward to fully meet the recreational and community needs of residents and workers! Read the full Charlotte Observer article.

Walkability Is Key for Transit Use, Says New Study [Curbed]

"A new study by nonprofit transit advocacy group TransitCenter confirms a piece of conventional wisdom city dwellers have long known: If a transit stop is not within walking distance, it’s not likely to be used very often...One of the report’s key finding is, of course, that the way to get folks to use transit in their respective cities, is to make service fast and frequent." It's important to have transit stations in areas that serve many residents, but these stations must also be able to be accessed safely via high quality sidewalks and bike lanes!