Earth Day Call to Action: Plant Natives!

Earth Day, an astounding, annual, rekindling of a commitment to heal the environment, is 45 years old today!  A movement that was born to raise consciousness about air and water pollution, to recycling world wide, to focusing on climate change and clean energy, has united people of all backgrounds, in communities around the globe, in a common cause. It can be done!

Hometown Habitat aligns perfectly with the Earth Day mission, as a citizen’s call to action, to restore native ecosystems in every hometown. By restoring native plants, one person, one family, one community, we will achieve sustainability.  And, what is more amazing than the power that native plants have in helping to fix the environmental issues that inspired Earth Day in the first place? Native plants provide ecosystem services such as sequestering carbon, cleaning air and water by filtering pollutants, capturing storm water, stopping erosion, building topsoil, providing diversity for insects and pollinators, and connecting humans to their natural world.

On South Florida’s Virginia Key, Fernando Bretos (Curator of the Science Museum) demonstrates to volunteers how far apart to plant Mangrove propagules for a Mangrove reclamation project started by EcoArtist, Xavier Cortada.   image from Hometown Habitat

An exciting, important part of this project has been engaging environmental organizations around the country. As we work in the field filming and through fundraising outreach, we have connected with groups in every single state.  Screenings are already being planned and folks are anxious for the release.

We see Hometown Habitat being shared in classrooms, churches, businesses and communities to educate about the vital role of native plants and to get the ball rolling toward restoring habitat.  The film is authored in chapters so it can be viewed in its entirety, or by each story.  For example, city officials might want to take a look at the tree canopy story in New York City to see how city planners there successfully envisioned planting a million new trees within ten years. Good news. The initiative is actually two years ahead of schedule!

If you are an individual or organization, mulling over a donation with board members, now is the time to jump on board with a gift. Don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions. catherine@themeadowproject.com. Make it your Earth Day gift.

And then, go out and plant a native plant, like this young girl!

Young student happily joins in Mangrove planting. Mangroves are critical native trees in Florida coastal ecosystems.  image from Hometown Habitat

Happy Earth Day!  Go Native!!