
Following up on our partnership announcement with Bold Reuse for this year’s GRAVEL event, we wanted to share a little more of the story behind their brand and cycling connection. Enjoy this quick Q&A with Jocelyn, co-founder of Bold Reuse, to learn more about the great work they are doing. Enjoy!
Cycle Oregon: A lot of our riders might not yet know about Bold Reuse. Can you give a quick description of what Bold Reuse does?
Bold Reuse is a Portland-based, women-owned and operated start-up on a mission to end single-use waste by making reusable packaging easy for everybody.
Bold Reuse, previously GO Box, emerged in 2011, driven by the urgent need to tackle single-use waste challenges. Jocelyn Quarrell acquired the business in 2018 following the substantial challenges facing plastic recycling and the impact that China’s National Sword policy inflicted on our domestic recycling markets. Her decade of experience in mobility-sharing systems led to the opportunity to innovatively build a systematic approach that enabled the sharing of reusable packaging as a way to solve this problem.
The Portland Timbers, Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Convention Center, Starbucks, and Imperfect Foods have trusted Bold Reuse to implement and scale their reuse systems, diverting nearly 4 million pounds of single-use products from landfills.

CO: Did your experience in the cycling world help shape your vision for creating Bold Reuse?
Absolutely! Cycling has truly shaped my life – personally and professionally – for nearly 20 years. I’d always played around with bikes growing up, but I became a committed cyclist after college when I moved to Boston. I was fixie kid Monday through Friday and did road and mountain biking racing on the weekends. I was so dedicated to bikes as a low-emission mode of transportation that I decided to align my career goals to reflect those values and encourage others to ride more too. That led me to work with Zipcar and, later, Alta Bicycle Share, where I had the opportunity to launch bike share systems across the US. My experience working in the sharing economy inspired me to find other ways to reduce impact, such as through waste elimination, and that’s what led me to take on reusable packaging through Bold Reuse.
CO: You’ve joined us on a few Cycle Oregon events. Can you share a story or favorite memory from one of your rides with us?
There’s nothing like a Cycle Oregon ride! To be surrounded by so many folks that love what you love and experiencing that joy together in a beautiful Oregon landscape – it can’t be beat. Last year’s Gravel ride in particular, stands out – day 1 was brutally hot, which makes a tough ride that much more challenging, but the end-of-ride beer that much more refreshing. That evening, there was a thunderstorm that rolled over the hills and provided a beautiful, dramatic background to a fun party.
CO: What tips can you share with people who want to embrace Bold Reuse principles in their day to day life?
At Bold Reuse, we’re committed to inspiring collaborative innovation. We know that overnight perfection is not a realistic goal, so we set progressively challenging milestones that help us focus on making small and thoughtful steps forward everyday that add up to big impact. We invite everyone to consider a similar approach – talk to your friends, coworkers, neighbors and look for ways to work together in ways that achieve approachable but impactful change, such as carpooling or cycling to school/work or organizing your annual block party to be zero waste and meat-free. If we want to see change happen, we have to be willing to make it happen – to go out of our way, to deal with a slight degree of inconvenience, to make the more sustainable choice.

CO: You’re coming to Gravel this year, right? What are you most looking forward to?
Heck yes! I can’t wait to join the Gravel ride again this year. I’m looking forward to a butt-kicking ride, inspiring Central Oregon views, cold beer and delicious food, smiles on friends and strangers alike, AND seeing no single-use foodware packaging end up in the landfill.
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We are proud to partner with Bold Reuse for our GRAVEL event, June 7-9.