Advancing environmental justice, from our backyard to communities nationwide
By David Kellis, Senior Director, External Communications and Community Relations
Nearly 100 million people, including 28 million children, don’t have park access within a 10-minute walk of home, and in Oakland alone, residents in low-income neighborhoods have access to 78% less park space compared to high-income neighborhoods.1 Research suggests that urban built environments, including parks and other green spaces, might shape opportunities for physical activity, affecting development of obesity and other health outcomes, and that parks were more likely to encourage physical activity if they were perceived as aesthetically pleasing.
To help meet this need and in recognition of Earth Day, we introduced a new initiative to advance environmental justice through investment in community parks. The Healthy Parks Project aligns the company’s purpose to champion people to be well and thrive with its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
In the first year of the project, we will support parks organizations where it has large employee bases — starting in Oakland, California — benefiting the health of local communities. A donation of $200,000 is being made to the Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation to support the improvement of parks in West Oakland, a neighborhood located within a couple miles of our company headquarters and disproportionately impacted by poor health outcomes, according to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project.
To amplify the impact of the partnership, there will be volunteer events and online education about environmental justice. Clorox teammates in the U.S. and Canada will receive $25 each to donate to an environmental justice nonprofit of their choice through our employee giving program.
Through the Healthy Parks Project, we’re committed to improving park spaces so that people can feel safe and thrive in the local parks accessible to them.