Propane cylinder exchange program expanded at REI - The North Bay Business Journal

Sporting goods and outdoor gear shops such as REI, Trek Bicycle and Sports Basement. continue the trend of recycling products at their retail outlets.

Recycling has become the name of the game for North Bay sporting goods and outdoor gear shops.

With REI’s Santa Rosa store serving as a pilot location since August 2023, the outdoor gear and apparel retailer is expanding its list of stores taking part in a national propane cylinder exchange program.

REI plans to extend the program this year to about a quarter of its nearly 200 retail outlets.

In Santa Rosa, the store has exchanged 343 propane cylinders commonly used on camping stoves, partnering with Little Kamper of Manteca on the exchange program.

“We’re saving the environment, instead of having them thrown in the dump. They’re considered a safety hazard that needs proper disposal,” said Marty Kesti, a longtime REI Co-Op Santa Rosa employee.

The goal is to rid camp sites and landfills of the onslaught of hazardous waste littering popular public recreation sites such as Yosemite National Park.

“The (canister exchange) program makes a huge difference in and around Yosemite,” Yosemite Conservancy Sustainability Manager Tina Goehring said.

As part of Yosemite’s Zero Landfill Initiative that started in 2015, the park’s philanthropic partner reports about 24,000 used cylinders are collected in its recycling areas each year. An untold number of what are considered single-use canisters wind up in the trash, which is one of the reasons that as of Jan. 1, 2028, California will require all one-pound propane cylinders sold in the state to reusable or refillable.

“They end up rusting in landfills (otherwise),” Little Kamper cofounder Josh Simpson said.

Simpson said his company considers its connection between buying and selling and reusing propane cylinders vital to the environment.

The program works like this: A customer buys a refillable propane canister for $21.95. When empty, the customer can trade it in for a full one for $11.95.

The one-pound cylinders are made by Flame King and refilled and distributed by Little Kamper.

Joining the outdoor gear recycling movement is Bay Area sporting goods chain Sports Basement. It has expanded its recycling program to include propane cylinders as well.

At Sports Basement, customers may buy a full cylinder for $22 and get a refill later for $2.

“It’s awesome, so people don’t have to worry about where to take (recycle) them,” said Victoria Gomez, the Santa Rosa store’s recycling program coordinator.

Sports Basement also accepts climbing ropes, e-bike batteries, plastic water bottles, wetsuits, bike tires, corks and crayons.

Susan Wood covers agriculture, law, cannabis, production, transportation as well as banking and finance. She can be reached at 530-545-8662 or [email protected]