SPRINGER | Creative Director

REI CO-OP

Outside in 5

launch campaign

PROBLEM: There are systemic and racist barriers, built by design, that prevent 1/3 of people living in the US from accessing outdoor spaces within a 10-minute walk from their home.

CONCEPT: Let's get everyone Outside in 5 minutes or less.

Opt outside isn't

as easy as it sounds

Data from the Trust for Public Land show the U.S. is rich in enthusiasm for the outdoors, but poor in access and infrastructure—especially for those communities that have been historically and systemically disenfranchised. Over a third of people living in America do not have a public park or space to recreate within a 10-minute walk from home.

Outside in 5 is a community-led initiative that supports local projects and national legislation in pursuit of REI’s goal of getting 100 million people outside in five minutes or less, no matter where they live.

We launched this initiative in Anacostia Park in Washington, D.C. The Anacostia neighborhood is a historically Black community and home to this neighborhood national park. Despite its namesake park, the community has limited access to green space. This community is emblematic of many others in the country, which have suffered from a systemic loss of access to the outdoors. That’s not an accident. It’s by design.

In Anacostia, as will be true everywhere REI introduces Outside in 5, the work is community-led to address its specific needs. Friends of Anacostia Park, with the support of REI and the REI Cooperative Action Fund, is working to reconnect the historically Black community of Anacostia to the national park in their own backyard.

5 minute Short Film - Anacostia Park

Video Spots