REI Partners With Save The Bay: REI Village to be at Oakland Beach ICC Cleanup Site

CRANSTON, RI –Save The Bay is proud to team up with REI, a sponsor for this year’s International Coastal Cleanup (ICC). REI will be bringing the REI Village, a nation-wide tour that celebrates the good outdoor life and the REI member community, to the International Coastal Cleanup location at Oakland Beach in Warwick, RI at 9am – 12pm on Saturday, September 19. Special activities and opportunities await volunteers who participate in the ICC Oakland Beach cleanup.

“REI is thrilled to support Save The Bay at the 2015 International Coastal Cleanup. We are excited to announce that REI will be bringing the REI Village to the event. We will be celebrating volunteers by passing out gifts and interacting with the public. REI is very proud of the work Save the Bay does to keep our local beaches clean, safe, and healthy,” says Alaina Imberger, REI’s market coordinator.

At the REI Village, ICC volunteers and members of the public will enjoy giveaways, free lessons from REI Outdoor School instructors, games, demonstrations and more. The REI village consists of “a fully-functional bike repair shop, an instant outdoor hammock lounge, and spaces for members to relax and meet each other.” Volunteers and the public will be able to experience REI’s mobile camp setup experience. Sponsors like REI make it possible for the International Coastal Cleanup to be a success.

“The exciting thing about the International Coastal Cleanup is that it is an event on such a grand scale. We are united with people around the world who care just as much about their beaches as we do in Rhode Island,” says July Lewis, Save The Bay’s Volunteer Manager.

Organized by the Ocean Conservancy, the ICC is a worldwide event that recruits volunteers from all over the globe to help keep coastlines clean by removing trash and recording what is found at the cleanup sites. This year’s ICC takes place on September 19, 2015. Last year in Rhode Island, 16,368 pounds of trash were removed from the beaches. The top 10 items collected were cigarette butts, food wrappers, plastic bottle caps, plastic beverage bottles, fishing line, straws, beverage cans, plastic bags, glass bottles and metal bottle caps.

National Grid is the lead sponsor for this year’s International Coastal Cleanup; Citizens Bank is the event signature sponsor. Other sponsors include:  Bank of America, Hemenway’s Seafood Grill & Oyster Bar, REI, ZipCar, Packaging 2.0, Clean Ocean Access, Walmart, Professional Security Services and Northups. For more information about sponsorship or partnership with Save The Bay, contact Leanne Danielsen at ldanielsen@savebay.org.

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