Our good friend Alyx Schwarz from Shoestring Adventures introduced us to Parks Project at this winter’s Outdoor Retailer show, and we were instantly hooked on the organization’s mission to promote, protect and preserve the outdoor spaces we know and love. One part web store and one part community organizer, Parks Project is dedicated to providing quality tees and accessories that support the conservation of national parks, including Acadia, Denali, Grand Teton, Everglades and many more. However, the company is about a lot more than selling rad t-shirts with national park graphics.
Parks Project also offers various ways for interested persons to get involved in their initiative by recruiting ambassadors and organizing community volunteer days. Lucky for us, we had the opportunity to catch up with Sevag and Keith of Parks Project to learn more about their vision, programs and outdoor community efforts.
Q. How did Parks Project begin?
A. The original vision was to get friends out and about volunteering in our parks so we could make a difference and support our favorite places, and we figured we could each tackle specific projects in these spaces. We got out as a group, worked hard, felt good about it, and would celebrate at the end of the day with a cold one or two. Then from our experience in apparel, we thought it would be cool if people could wear this cause, so the project also evolved into t-shirts. Now, we think it has come full circle because we are still driving volunteer events, but using apparel as a way to tell stories that need support across all of our favorite national parks. So really, we are still holding true to our vision in partnering with parks and conservation groups to try to promote more ambassadors and advocates.
Q. How do you all come up with your t-shirts and current projects? Are the illustrations and graphics inspired by trips to each particular national park? And who designs the graphics?
At the foundation of every t-shirt is a story and purpose. We will do some research in speaking with park groups or superintendents so that we understand the local lay of the land and priorities within the park. Many of them tie into habitat conservation or wildlife preservation. It has been a real fun adventure to learn about the various natural ecosystems and challenges we face in preserving these places. From there, we lay out a few paragraphs for one of our graphic designers and let them translate the project into a design. We have found that various designers we work with have different connections to the projects, so we try to let them work on something that resonates with them personally. We are also trying to expand our design collective to include more local creatives that have direct connections to the parks we work with. We believe there is always more room for localization and improvement.
Q. Could you tell us about your ambassador program? How do you become an ambassador?
A. Anyone who is sharing our story is an ambassador, and with respect to the ambassadors on our website, they have all been contributors along the way. Many of these folks are creatives and we think creativity plays a key role in creating connections with people, and can trip up unique ways of finding solutions. There is no creativity prerequisite to join us and become an ambassador, but our close group inspires us to push our design and fashion perspective, music taste and the way we view our connection with the outdoors. At the end of the day, t-shirt graphics are a simple way of inserting a story into apparel, but there are other “projects” that we would like to do in the future such as concerts, art shows and events that tie in creativity for a purpose.
Q. What are some current volunteer days that are in the works? Do either of you have any memorable past volunteer days you could share?
A. I (Sevag) look forward to going back up to support the Muir Woods project. We have learned how many of the redwoods are having a hard time propagating in the park because non-native species are stealing “real estate.” That means many redwood seeds aren’t making it to the ground because some of the Scottish bloom and other shrubs blossom earlier in the year and catch the redwood seeds before they have a chance. Such a bummer. So our mission there is to support the nursery where they get seedlings that are going to be planted in the park. The tee graphic has redwoods next to one another to tell that story. We also hosted a volunteer day months ago up there and got involved firsthand. We would like to think that this is a way for us to make an impact on the long-term sustainability of the park.
Q. Could you share some of the social community strategy behind #radparks and how it has helped Parks Project gain momentum in its purpose?
A. Yes, we really wanted to create a simple term that: a) shows how amazing these places are, b) creates an easy way to share appreciation, and c) has a fun tone and feels like a relevant statement to the “next generation” per say. Also, it was something that we didn’t want to dictate too much. There are so many #radparks out there and to each their own really! So we created something open ended, easy to apply and fun to post. We were so stoked on it that we even created a tee to promote it, but at the end of the day, we also want to promote a little digital downtime, too, so there is a time for hashtaggin’, but also a time to leave it all and enjoy the purity of our parks.
Q. Have you all found that your online communities and clean-up/volunteer events work together to spread Parks Projects initiatives?
A. It’s work in progress. It ain’t that easy to get people to volunteer, but we won’t stop with this call to action. If we can engage you with our purpose and share a local park story, that’s only one part of the equation to success. But, if you are compelled by what we do and feel like you can contribute, it’s a fun way to get involved. However, it’s not your typical beach cleanup. It’s normally very hands-on and a bit more work, but usually an exciting hike in/hike out educational experience. We aren’t really trying to get people to spread our initiatives per say. More just encouraging you to pick your ass up and do something about what’s going on in our parks. Oh, and vote, too, please.
Q. What have you learned during this whole process?
A. We have unfortunately been surprised with how hard it is to educate people on how they should be so honored to be in one of the only countries in the world where we actually “own” our parks. They are “of the people for the people.” In many other countries around the world, parks are the queen’s land or owned by the government. It is really up to us to take ownership and ensure they are taken care of for the generations to come, and that is definitely one of the most inspiring things about this project. We can celebrate the parks’ raw beauty and uniqueness while educating people about what they can and should do to promote and protect these amazing places.
Photos courtesy of Parks Project
XX SYDNEY