Litter-Free Rhode Island 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. 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 that are timed to be held around Earth Day or other volunteer clean-ups and beautification projects if they are completed by June 15.

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

Grant Award Amounts

Capitalized by a $100,000 line item proposed by Governor McKee and included in the enacted fiscal year 2024 budget, the program grew out of the Governor’s and First Lady’s Litter-Free Rhode Island initiative, which launched in 2022. The RI Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) will accept applications for grants of up to $750 each to qualified applicants who host volunteer cleanups and/or beautification projects to be completed no later than June 15, 2024. 

General Requirements

The grants may be used for local Earth Day or other 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

Request for applications: March 8, 2024

Applications supporting grants on or around Earth Day (April 22): March 29, 2024

* Applications for grants occurring after this date will continue to be accepted until funds are exhausted.

Grant end date: June 30, 2024

How to Apply

A link to the online application is below. Please note that maximum funding for any single project shall be limited to $750. RIDEM asks that applications supporting grants on or around Earth Day, which occurs on April 22, be submitted by March 29, 2024. Applications for grants occurring after this date will continue to be accepted until funds are exhausted. Applicants do not need to apply for the full $750, 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 30 days before the grant supported project is set to occur.

RIDEM asks that applications supporting grants on or around Earth Day, which occurs on April 22, to be submitted by March 29, 2024.

Applications for grants occurring after this date will continue to be accepted until funds are exhausted.

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.