The third annual PlayCleanGo Awareness Week was June 5-12, 2021 across North America. The goal of the campaign is to show outdoor enthusiasts how they can stop invasive plants and pests from spreading — while enjoying the great outdoors.
Major thank you to every person, partner organization, social media manager, and friend who participated in PlayCleanGo Awareness Week 2021.
Numbers are finally in, and we’re excited to share the highlights!
PlayCleanGo Awareness Week by the Numbers
by posting on social channels, hosting invasive species prevention and education events, and talking to local media — activities made easy by using our freely provided PlayCleanGo Awareness Week toolkit.
(that's up 3x since 2020)
with a total campaign reach of
in states and provinces all across Canada, the United States, and Mexico
Mexico joined for the first time this year. We are really proud of that.
Ever since NAISMA signed an agreement with Comisión Nacional Para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO) in México, PlayCleanGo has gone full-steam ahead with translating:
- Spanish-language invasive species outreach materials. You can grab a Spanish poster and sign from the free PlayCleanGo Graphic Library. We have more great Spanish material to come, if you become a NAISMA partner.
- Spanish-language PlayCleanGo boot brush stations and sign panels for sale in the NAISMA store.
- Spanish-language social media posts and graphics in the Awareness Week toolkit.
New in 2021
NAISMA and PlayCleanGo rolled out a new event calendar format this year, and partners wasted no time adding their invasive species events throughout the month of June.
There were all kinds of invasive species prevention and education events including:
- invasive plant weed pulls,
- aquatic invasive species prevention certification,
- an education event covering best practices to prevent the spread of harmful invasive plants and animals for boaters,
- and a biocontrol collection event. Cool!
The calendar was so successful we plan to keep it up year-round free for partners to highlight all your invasive species events.
PlayCleanGo Awareness Week in the Media
Our very own PlayCleanGo Program Manager Krista Lutzke appeared on national media outlets this year including the U.S. Department of Agriculture Radio, and Celtic, Inc.’s Over a Pint podcast.
Also, what lover of outdoor recreation WOULDN’T be stoked to see PlayCleanGo Awareness Week previewed on Outside Business Journal?!
Many more local outlets picked up on stories from our partners using our press release template in the PlayCleanGo Awareness Week toolkit.
What You Shared During PlayCleanGo Awareness Week
One of the best assets of the PlayCleanGo program is you. Social media showing the behavior of brushing boots, cleaning boats, and other simple ways of cleaning your gear is not only easy. It’s known to encourage invasive species prevention practices throughout the entire outdoor recreation community. This works best when the message is the same across North America—because we know recreationists don’t stay in one spot.
For instance, by using our coordinated branding and messaging, we reach millions of hikers, horseback riders, mountain bikers, and more through our boot brush stations and signs.
Boot brushes are located at many trailheads - so you can give invasive species the brush off!!
— Minnesota Forestry (@mnforestry) June 6, 2021
Use the station, or your own boot brush, before & after hiking to remove mud & seeds from your footwear.
Learn more: https://t.co/uGmchqKrh1 #PlayCleanGoWeek pic.twitter.com/HraePoX6wP
It was so fun to see people spreading the PlayCleanGo spirit with the #PlayCleanGoWeek hashtag. Partners in Canada cracked punny invasive species jokes and shared views of boot brush stations all across the country’s national parks:
No foaling around, remember to inspect and brush off your shoes, clothes, gear, pets & horses after using a trail. Always #PlayCleanGo and use weed free forage for your feed!🐴#PlayCleanGoWeek #WeedFreeForage @NAISMAorg @PlayCleanGo pic.twitter.com/VDyAMUzusu
— AISC (@AlbertaInvasive) June 11, 2021
Happy #PlayCleanGoWeek Everyone!🙌
— CCIS (@CanadaInvasives) June 11, 2021
Shout out to our partners at Grasslands National Park @ParksCanada for helping you to #PlayCleanGo and stop #invasivespecies in your tracks 👞 with their newly installed boot brush station!#EnviroWeek pic.twitter.com/AECtq9U7my
Not to be outdone, the U.S. National Park Service got in on the posting action.
The most effective invasive species prevention message is the personal invasive species prevention message. Thanks Erika for doing your part on your trail running adventures and making the time to post about it on Strava and Twitter!
Some runners pick up trash, I pull weeds! Celebrating #PlayCleanGoWeek Stop #InvasiveSpecies #PlayCleanGo #TrailRunners #Runchat #runner #running #WYResponsibly #ThatsWY #Houndstongue pic.twitter.com/T3UEHvTuB8
— Erika (@EwEdmiston) June 9, 2021
We loved seeing invasive species prevention messages in Spanish as well as English.
Cuando salgas, comparte con tus amigos el impacto de las especies invasoras en la biodiversidad y explícales cómo pueden ayudar. #PlayCleanGoWeek #Especiesinvasoras
— CONABIO (@Conabio) June 11, 2021
Visita: https://t.co/ZOSFvBZQE1 y https://t.co/2HbEw5j7Jg pic.twitter.com/hBe27tiz6t
Nevada Agriculture had a special message for their field workers with our Work. Clean. Go. poster. The poster is available to download from our PlayCleanGo free graphic library.
Whether it's for play or work, it's important to clean your gear and equipment before entering and leaving a new site. Learn more at https://t.co/8wwPEMz2Dv. #PlayCleanGoWeek #WorkCleanGo pic.twitter.com/3e4PxEnDUq
— Nevada Agriculture (@NVAgriculture) June 9, 2021
And Mississippi’s Forestry Commission put together a very handsome blog post for PlayCleanGo Awareness Week, which they shared here on Facebook:
Finally, the U.S. National Park Service made their own posts with scenes from across the country. Since 2020 NAISMA and NPS have worked together to enhance coordination of invasive species prevention messaging across public lands and waters. PlayCleanGo is on a mission to show people how simple it can be to keep invasive species from spreading. And Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore? Mission ACCOMPLISHED, friends!
Buy firewood where you are going to burn it! Help protect the Lakeshore by stopping the spread of invasive species.#PlayCleanGoWeek #NPS #NationalParkService #SleepingBearDunes #LeaveNoTrace #LNT pic.twitter.com/qwgFFdPjb6
— Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (@SleepingBearNPS) June 10, 2021
What You Can Do Now
113 new people signed the PlayCleanGo pledge during PlayCleanGo Awareness Week.
When you take the PlayCleanGo pledge, you help outdoor spaces AND support their land and water stewards’ efforts to stop the spread of invasive species.
Don’t wait until next summer to make your commitment. Sign the pledge today!
One more thank you to PlayCleanGo Awareness Week’s other two prevention partner organizations, Don’t Move Firewood and Hungry Pests.
And most of all, thank you to everyone who participated. Make sure you sign up for NAISMA updates to learn about the 2022 PlayCleanGo Awareness Week and all our other invasive species prevention and management programming throughout the year.
