Litter-Free Rhode Island Fall Cleanup and Beautification Microgrants

The 2024 Litter-Free Rhode Island Cleanup/Beautification Microgrant initiative aims to highlight the Litter-Free Rhode Island campaign and the value of the environment and to recognize the importance of people improving the quality of life in their communities. Capitalized by a $100,000 line item proposed by Governor McKee and included in the enacted fiscal year 2025 budget, the program grew out of the Governor’s and First Lady’s Litter-Free Rhode Island initiative, which launched in 2022. Environmental stewardship is an important component of a healthy business climate. Improving the appearance of our neighborhoods and our scenic and recreational areas improves our quality of life and our business climate as well. 

Participating groups may use the grant awards to conduct litter pick-ups timed to be held around the International Coastal Cleanup on September 21 or other volunteer clean-ups and beautification projects if they are completed by November 30.

An orange and pink plastic straw and styrofoam cup mixed into seaweed washed up on a beach in Westerly, RI

Grant Award Amounts

The RI Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) will accept applications for grants of up to $500 each to qualified applicants to conduct litter pick-ups to be held around the International Coastal Cleanup on September 21 or other volunteer clean-ups and beautification projects if they are completed by November 30.

Previous Grant Rounds:

General Requirements

The grants may be used for local volunteer cleanups/beautification projects and must include an educational component.  All applications need to demonstrate how the event will promote education of the Litter-Free Rhode Island campaign and strongly encourage participants to sign the Litter-Free Pledge.

Evaluation Criteria:

  • Relevancy to local environmental/community interests.
  • Increased learning opportunities for the community.
  • Long-term environmental/beautification impact.
  • Demonstrated need.

Expenses Not Funded:

  • Personnel expenses (i.e., salary, overtime, professional landscapers, etc).
  • Fuel or travel costs related to purchasing items for the event/project.
  • Expenses incurred prior to the grant award date.
  • Direct or Indirect lobbying or political activities.

Program Timeline:

  • Applications supporting grants for International Coastal Cleanup Day (Sept. 21): September 12, 2024
  • All Applications due: October 31, 2024
  • Grant end date: November 30, 2024, or when the grant money runs out.

Applications

A link to the online application is below. Please note that maximum funding for any single project shall be limited to $500. Applicants do not need to apply for the full grant maximum, and there is no requirement to match. In an effort to spread the grants throughout the state, RIDEM strongly encourages potential applicants to partner with other organizations within their community.  All applications need to demonstrate how the event will promote the education of the Litter-Free Rhode Island campaign and strongly encourage participants to sign the Litter-Free Pledge. Applications that do not meet the criteria will be rejected.

Please consider the environment when purchasing any material. Try to avoid single-use plastics, recycle any packaging materials, and encourage guests to “carry-in carry-out.”

Following the completion of the event, RIDEM requires the submittal of photographs of the event, the number of participants, the amount of material collected, and proof that the funding was successfully spent as proposed.

 

Submit Application

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Schools, municipal organizations (for example, town department of public works, parks and recreation, conservation commission), and non-profit organizations are all eligible to apply.  In order to be considered you must provide your organization’s federal ID number, and non-profits must provide evidence of their non-profit status.

Examples of what the grant funding can be used for, equipment (gloves, pickers), marketing (t-shirts, printing, etc.), food and/or water for the volunteers and debris removal (dumpster, etc.)

We are not specifying that non-profits be a 501c3 because we recognize that there are community-based non-profit organizations that have other federally recognized non-profit designations.  As long as you can provide proof that your organization is a federally recognized non-profit organization your application will be considered.

No. We will only consider one application per organization.  If we receive multiple applications for a single organization we will only consider the first application that arrives.  Before you submit an application be sure to coordinate with other members of you organization.

The evaluation criteria includes relevancy to local environmental/community interests, increased learning opportunities for the community, long term environmental/beautification impact, and demonstrated need.

Applications must be submitted via the online application at least three weeks before the grant supported project is set to occur and before October 31, 2024.

The review committee consists of representatives from RIDEM and the Office of the Governor.

 

Additional Questions?

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact RIDEM’s Director’s Office, Suzanne.Amerault@dem.ri.gov.