02 March 2023

California State Parks Foundation is partnering with REI Co-op to provide free materials for local cleanups.

San Francisco, CA — California State Parks Foundation is offering free Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Earth Day Climate Action kits to give participants the materials they need to clean up their local parks, playgrounds, beaches, neighborhoods, and California state parks. What started as a COVID-friendly adaptation to traditional in-person group cleanups has expanded to a mainstay action offered each year. 

One participant in DIY Earth Day Climate Action said, "it inspired me to clean up at the monument in [Marshall] Gold Discovery State [Historic] Park. It felt good to do something positive, even a little.”

“This even changed me from someone grumpy about garbage in the parks to someone that'll just pick it up as I go,” another said.

The kits are provided in partnership with REI Co-op and contain a compostable trash bag, sticker, magnet, an REI coupon, and a postcard with more details and information to safely clean up litter in your local community. Mail-order DIY Earth Day kits are now sold out, but those interested in participating can pick one up from a local REI store in California. 

"We are proud to partner with California State Parks Foundation for the third year to inspire residents to take action this April for Earth Month," said Haley Caruso, REI's Local Brand and Impact Manager. “Each year more Californians and REI members have become stewards for their local parks, beaches, and trails through this program and we are hopeful they will continue long after Earth Day is over."

"Litter and plastic pollution harm ecosystems by introducing toxic chemicals, disrupting natural waterways, and breaking into tiny pieces easily consumed by animals. Cleanups like this help stop litter from entering the environment. They also introduce volunteers to the scale of the problem, allowing them to get interested and involved in further climate resilience work. 

DIY Earth Day Climate Action cleanups will take place across the state throughout April. To make this event even more accessible, California State Parks Foundation encourages participants to take action in their own neighborhoods, at local playgrounds, or at state parks or beaches within walking, biking, or driving distance. 

California State Parks Foundation will track the number of bags of litter reported by participants at calparks.org/diyearthdayreport, with a special prize from REI to motivate reporting. Last year, 6,080 DIY Earth Day participants collected more than 745 bags of trash across the state, diverting waste from directly entering the ecosystem. 

We encourage people to sign up here and use the hashtags #CalParksEarthDay #REI and tag @calparks and @rei on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.   

For more information about Earth Day Climate Action at California State Parks Foundation, visit our website: https://www.calparks.org/earthday. 

Support for the DIY Earth Day Climate Action kits was generously provided by REI Co-op, and by our California State Parks Foundation members and donors.