Pat Hynes, environmental engineer, former EPA employee, author, and director of the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice, will share Rachel Carson’s story in a talk entitled Pollinators: Silent Spring and Rachel Carson’s Legacy. Her talk will be followed by experts from the Western Massachusetts Pollinators Network and the Western Massachusetts Master Gardeners about what their organizations can offer. In addition to introducing its campaign, Greening Greenfield will offer an action we can all do this spring as we purchase plants for our gardens.
“Rachel Carson was a renowned writer and an amazing person. I want to share her story of her love of nature and what brought her to write Silent Spring, as well as her courage in going head to head with the chemical industry in the early 60’s.” said Pat Hynes. “Silent Spring galvanized the environmental movement, and led our government to create the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect our health and our planet by regulating pesticides, herbicides, and other toxins. Her book has been called the most important book of the 20th century.”
Ms. Hynes talk is the first in a series of workshops and talks offered by Greening Greenfield (GG) that aim to inspire people to plant flowers, shrubs, and trees to beautify Greenfield, and build habitats for our insects to address the biodiversity and climate crisis in solidarity with regional, national, and international efforts.
“When we read in the Recorder that butterflies are like the canary in the coal mine, we wanted to learn more,” said Nancy Hazard of Greening Greenfield. “We wanted to know: What is the role of pollinators in supporting life on Earth? What do pollinators need to thrive? And what can we do? We have learned a lot about the problem and solutions. We want to learn more and share that process with others.”
Greening Greenfield’s second event in their series will be held on April 20 to celebrate Earth Day. We have invited Tom Sullivan of Pollinators Welcome! to share his inspiring trip to Ireland where he learned about the first-in-the-world country-wide pollinator plan, and his vision of building a pollinator corridor in Greenfield. His talk will be followed by guided tours of the proposed corridor, as well as opportunities to work in the new pollinator garden at the John Zon Community Center.