Spring Challenge! Look a little harder than you need to in order to find daffodils and find these natives instead.

Last Call - NatGen STEM Seed Grants

STEM Seed Grants support our ongoing efforts to engage and inform youth about STEM, environmental literacy, and science-based truth using NatGen’s Green Earth Book Award books.
natgen.org/programs/ste...

You don't realize how heavy winter feels until the sun's warmth lingers a little longer and the birds begin to sing more robustly. Suddenly your spirit feels so much lighter.

👀

All the snow has finally melted and now people are posting the lost mittens they’ve found.

I always mean to get and forget to check the dates!

Today is the last day of the Philadelphia Flower Show / here are some of the highlights I saw there last week. Did you go? If so, what did you think of this year show? #gardendc #flowershow #philadelphia

These companies show up saying (& lying) that they have *green* products, organic products, products safe for pets. I nicely engage them & ask for ingredient lists. But most people take them at their word assuming companies can't just lie to you. I am worried for their workers' health too.

It doesn't help when these companies show up saying (and lying) that they have *green* products or organic products or products safe for dogs.

Then I ask for ingredient lists and they slink away. But most people take them at their word assuming companies can't just lie to you. But they can/do.

More great info from Dana Millbank!

I'll readily admit I didn't understand it either, and I've taken years of ecology classes at this point. The kids brought up the topic and ran with it, so we all learned a lot together.

9 cards made by kindergartners on a bulletin board with a roly-poly photo in the middle with the words "Thank you friends, I'm happy now". The cards imply that the bug is definitely dead.

When I need cheering up I look at the cards my kid's afterschool program made for a dead bug

On Friday my 2 teams (one middle school & one high school) turned in their grant proposals to Earth Force for the Caring for our Watersheds grant.

Their proposals were both about the urgent need for educational outreach about Light Pollution.

How objects in space could disrupt your sleep cycle More than 12,000 satellites are in low-Earth orbit, with space companies planning to launch tens of thousands more that astronomers say could ‘completely change the night sky’

www.the-independent.com/news/health/...

www.plantnovanatives.org/post/judging...

You can also sometimes join nearby libraries. My beat friend uses her local card to join my library which has a much bigger selection.

I am educating my brother about Hoopla and Libby. He wanted me to help him buy him an audiobook on Spotify and I said, "But, WAIT! Do you have a library card? Cause, that audiobook you want to listen to? The library has the whole series! For freeeeeee!!!"

a box of little brown balls of clay and dirt and seeds in a philly pretzel factory box

Ready to supply ~100 cyclists w/seed bombs for our city's abandoned lots at tonight's @wednightrides.org!

They contain 6-7 species of native plant seeds to juice up the biodiversity of our city, incl.
Ironweed
Echinacea
Partidge Pea
Bee Balm
Blue Vervain
Blackeyed Susan
Swamp Milkweed (sometimes)

This is just brilliant.

Virginia is the testing ground for data centers, so we'll be the epicenter for figuring out unexpected problems. As a result, this was interesting and concerning to hear. www.wsj.com/podcasts/tec...

Can we chat about the red foxes we have in Virginia? Where do you think they are from?

Are they native to North America or did they come from Europe. Thoughts?

Traffic Noise Makes Caterpillars' Hearts Beat Faster The ongoing racket may interfere with the larvae’s response to stress

This study is from 2018, but I only just learned about it. Nothing surprising here really, but it’s upsetting nonetheless. As someone said, add in lawnmowers, leaf blowers…

#pollinators

#datacenters

This Business Insider documentary discusses the Devlin Tech Park and gives good context to what is happening in Northern Virginia.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-8T...

2/2
Even when things are working, when those wipes make it to a water treatment plant, they destroy the machinery. Your tax money which goes to repairing water treatment plants is subsidizing the wipes. They should be made illegal.

Inside the race to clean 240 million gallons of sewage out of the Potomac Crews confront pipes clogged with non-disposable wipes and rocks, along with deep muck and freezing temperatures.

1/2
Those wipes, no matter what the ad says or the box says, are NOT disposable. They go in the trash.

"Non-disposable wipes clogged pumps and the bypass, causing sewage overflow."

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/int...

Also in Prince William County, Merrifield Garden Center recently announced that it sold its Gainesville location for data center development for $160 million. That site was also part of the overlay district.

Amazon Buys Northern Virginia Data Center Site for Record $700 Million Amazon Data Services has purchased a large Prince William County data center campus for $700 million, "Washington Business Journal" reports.

northernvirginiamag.com/news/2025/11...
Amazon Data Services purchased Devlin Tech Park, a Prince William County data center campus for $700 million from Stanley Martin Homes. The site is near Devlin Road south of I-66. Amazon purchased about 70% of the 270-acre site for $3.7 million/ acre.

Another man, Alan Bohms, was paid more than $575,000 by the American Breast Cancer Coalition through a company he controlled named Campaign Marketing Inc., which also did business under the names Insight Data Management and Prestige Tax & Payroll. The company has taken in close to $1.5 million from the network of nonprofits ProPublica identified. Bohms was not a member of Outreach Calling or subject to the FTC order, but he has previously paid the company millions to fundraise for one of his nonprofits. In an email, Bohms defended the money that the groups spend on fundraising, writing that the phone calls are central to “educating and engaging the community about the PAC’s mission and objectives.”

How a Network of Nonprofits Enriches Fundraisers While Spending Almost Nothing on Its Stated Causes
Thanks, but I'll stick with organizations that don't confuse money grabs with education & engagement. And thank you @propublica.org for this important reporting:
www.propublica.org/article/poli...

Busy day! I’m at a master naturalist meeting and we gave Cliff Fairweather