We Can Be the Change – Join Us!
As we face the greatest catastrophe to befall the natural world, we are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it. The Landscape profession is pivotal in the fight against the changing climate and diminishing biodiversity, it is now our moment to enact change!”
— Landscape Institute
Food Justice – Gardening – Gleaning
Supporting people is the first step in building resilient communities:
- Growing Gardens – A Portland-based nonprofit that supports communities to grow their own healthy food.
- Project Grow – Supports people with and without disabilities to connect with their food source.
- Zenger Farm – A working, educational urban farm in Portland and also hosts a community kitchen.
- Mudbone Grown – Black-owned farm enterprise fostering community through farming and food production.
- Outgrowing Hunger – Based out of Sandy, Outgrowing Hunger fosters a network of community gardens, farms, and educational opportunities.
- Grow Portland – Runs school-based garden sites and sponsors/builds community gardens.
- Village Gardens – Supports access to nutritious, affordable, and culturally appropriate food for affordable housing residents.
- Tribal Gathering Garden – Creates space for indigenous community: Cultivating indigenous foods and materials for cultural practices and traditions. Revitalizes the associated knowledge. skills and ethics in an urban landscape.
- Portland Fruit Tree Project – A Portland-based nonprofit that focuses on food justice through gleaning city-grown produce.
- Urban Gleaners – Rescues and distributes unsold fresh food from grocery stores, restaurants, farmers markets, and food producers.
- Depave – Depave empowers disenfranchised communities to overcome social and environmental injustices and adapt to climate change through urban re-greening.
TAKING ACTION IN YOUR YARD
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Get to Know Your GardenLearning the characteristics that make your property unique enables you to make good choices on plantings well suited to your site’s light, soil conditions and climate.
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Choose Climate Adapted Plants
Consider choosing plants based on lower water use, easy maintenance or their contribution to pollinator or wildlife habitat. -
Manage Water
Adjust your watering schedule or install a drip system to save water. Rain gardens, bio-swales and permeable hardscape surfaces help manage extreme precipitation events reducing impact on our fragile waterways. - Support Wildlife
Bees, buterflies, birds, insects and all sorts of wildlife need help coping with the impacts of climate change and you can help by planting food and nectar plants and providing forage and water. -
Maximize Planted Areas
Collect more plants! Planting hell strips and green roofs can maximize total green surfaces, combating urban heat index, sequestering carbon and supporting wildlife habitat. -
Build Healthy Soils
Composting and worm bins keep excess waste from our landfills. Mulches retain moisture and keep weeds under control. Feeding the soil makes for happy plants and happy gardeners. -
Plant Trees
Preserving tree canopy assists in urban heat reduction, retaining moisture in shaded areas, filters and cleans the air, provides habitat for wildlife and acts as a carbon capture. -
Reduce the Amount of Petrochemicals
To minimize contribution to carbon pollution improve energy efficiency by using human powered tools and low fuel maintenance. Avoid dependency on chemical use by incorporating organic practices. -
Build Community
Let’s be generous with our own knowledge and experience to inspire one another to develop resilient gardens. We can share resources such as coordinating neighborhood mulch drops, cooperative landscape care or plant and seed swaps.
LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
These are a few of the many organizations striving to protect our future. Please consider supporting this essential work and visit their sites for exciting ways you can learn about our natural world and make our communities better for all creatures.
- Native Plant Society or Oregon
- Native Plant Society of Washington
- Friends of Trees – Friends of trees inspires people to improve the world around them through a simple solution: Planting trees together.
- Audubon Society – Portland Audubon’s passionate and growing community has loved and advocated for Oregon’s wildlife and wild places for more than 100 years. With the help of our vast network of advocates, nature enthusiasts, and partners, we inspire and connect people to nature through a variety of programs that are grounded in science and learning.
- The Xerces Society – The Xerces Society is a science-based nonprofit organization that protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitats.
- Center for Diversity and the Environment – The Center for Diversity and the Environment harnesses the power of racial and ethnic diversity to transform the U.S. environmental movement by developing leaders, catalyzing change within institutions, and building alliances.
RESOURCES FOR gardening in a changing climate
- Oregon State University
- National Wildlife Federation – Gardener’s Guide to Global Warming: Challenges and Solutions
- World Economic Forum
- Cornell University
- Environmental Horticulture News
- Ecolandscaping Alliance
- National Garden Clubs
- Green America
- Rodale Institute
CITIZEN SCIENCE OPPORTUNITIES
One of the funnest ways to support scientific research on environmental issues is by engaging in citizen science. Observing and collecting data on your walks in the woods or around your neighborhood can help scientists in their study of the natural world. Monitor invasive species, learn to identify birds, search for amphibians, document wildflower bloom times, keep track of carnivores and so much more:
