I would like to highly recommend that on January 21, you consider spending a day ON (instead of taking a day off) volunteering with the Green Seattle Partnership.
Here’s a calendar of events taking place around the city over the entire MLK Day weekend.
Last year on this occasion I participated in Green Seattle Partnership’s effort to replant parts of Woodland Park that needed attention in the undergrowth. Along with hundreds of other volunteers around the city, I showed up with my work gloves and work boots on. I joined a group of friends from Seattle Rotary on that rather damp, chilly day ready to WORK.
Thanks to our Parks Department and Forterra’s excellent organization, people quickly moved into teams, grabbed our shovels, and started planting. The invasive blackberries and ivy had already been removed (thanks to the workers who did that!) so we did the fun part – planting literally thousands of native plants, trees, ferns, salal, and more.
The best part: After lunch we lined up in a long, long bucket brigade and moved a giant pile of compost down the hill into the areas we just planted. We covered our hillside with fresh mulch to protect the plants against frost and keep the weeds down. We were a smooth-functioning machine!
Seattle’s Forest Stewards, Forterra staff and partner organizations are hosting more than 20 weekend volunteer events for people to get involved with. Tasks of all types are available, from light to heavy, from planting starts to removing bullying invasive species. Bring friends and family and make it a day of gratitude for community, as well!
Healthy parks clean the air that we breathe, decrease polluted water from running into the Puget Sound and give us sheltered places where we can step however briefly out of time. Help keep that happening.