Hometown Habitat, Stories of Bringing Nature Home

For Immediate Release                                 

Contact: Jeanne Henderson

Wild Ones, Mid-Mitten Chapter

Hendersonjeanne23@gmail.com  

In celebration of Earth Day’s 50^th Anniversary, the Wild Ones Mid-Mitten Chapter offers you a free inspiring movie to watch from the comfort of your home, since the coronavirus has cancelled meetings, and we must maintain social distancing. ‘Hometown Habitat, Stories of Bringing Nature Home’ is a 90-minute documentary focused on showing how and why native plants are critical to the survival and vitality of local ecosystems. 

Nature is a valuable asset to human communities when we share our space with other living creatures.

Did you know that native plants form the basis of complex food webs and are preferred by pollinators and birds for their nectar, pollen, and seeds? Did you know that once established, native plants do not require the use of herbicides and pesticides to maintain their beauty? 

The Wild Ones Mid-Mitten Chapter invites you to this virtual screening of Hometown Habitat - Stories of Bringing Nature Home on April 18-20, 2020 via your home computer screen.  The engaging themes and beautiful photography are narrated by renowned entomologist Douglas Tallamy, Ph.D., whose research, books, and lectures have sounded the alarm about habitat and species loss.  He challenges the notion that ‘humans are here and nature is someplace else’, saying, “It doesn’t have to and shouldn’t be that way.” Tallamy states that 52% of U.S. land is utilized for agriculture, 43% is taken by urban and suburban development, and only 5% remains as natural pristine areas. This 5% is not enough to sustain all the ecosystem services human populations need and take for granted.

For two years, producer/director Catherine Zimmerman and her film crew traveled around the country to visit hometown habitat heroes and record their inspiring stories of community commitment to conservation landscaping. Zimmerman shares these success stories and works-in-progress that re-awaken our relationship with nature. The chapters include:  1) The Basics – Douglas Tallamy; 2) Ecosystem Services – Million Trees NYC; 3) Water Conservation – Habitat Hero Program, Audubon Rockies; 4) Environmental Art Solutions – Eco Artists; 5) Sustainable Practices – Redefining the Horticulture Industry; 6) Restoration and Conservation Development – Steven Apfelbaum; 7) Interfaith Environmental Movement – Sacred Grounds, NWF; and 8) Environmental Activism – Wild Ones.

Register to watch Hometown Habitat by sending an email to: hendersonjeanne23@gmail.com by April 17.  You will receive a link which will be active for April 18-20 to watch at your leisure; more details will be included. We will schedule an online meeting later to discuss.

The movie is suitable for homeowners, scouts, school teachers and their students, homeschoolers, plant nursery managers, landscape designers, religious congregations, city or township officials, and master gardeners.

Wild Ones Mid-Mitten Chapter is an educational and environmental advocacy organization located in central Michigan. We meet monthly on the second Monday at Chippewa Nature Center in Midland. https://www.facebook.com/MidMittenWildOnes/. 

Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes is a national not-for-profit organization that promotes environmentally sound landscaping practices to encourage biodiversity through the preservation, restoration and establishment of native plant communities. Membership and information can be found at www.wildones.org.

If you are unable to participate in this free event, you can purchase the Hometown Habitat two disk set on Catherine Zimmerman’s website https://themeadowproject.com. Disc one plays the full 90-minute film; disc two plays the film in chapters for targeted audiences. Also available is her first project Urban & Suburban Meadows, Bringing Meadowscaping to Big and Small Spaces in book and DVD. Contact her at catherine@themeadowproject.com. She is a current member of Wild Ones.

Let’s bring natural beauty to our doorsteps and make natural landscaping the new norm. Let’s “Heal the Earth, one yard at a time.” Let’s all become habitat heroes.