Project Plant It!, the environmental education initiative created by Dominion Energy in 2007, announces that enrollment is now open for the 2021-2022 academic year that culminates in Spring 2022.
Teachers, scout leaders and any adult who works with youth can register to receive free tree seedlings and free seed packets of wildflowers that attract pollinators while supplies last at projectplantit.com. The planting materials will be shipped in March/April 2022 in time for Arbor Day, April 29, 2022, and National Wildflower Week, May 1-7, 2022.
"We are excited to share that the 16th implementation of Project Plant It! In 2022 coincides with the 150th anniversary of the first occurrence of Arbor Day in 1872 and the 50th anniversary of the Arbor Day Foundation, which was established in 1972," said Shai West, Project Plant It! coordinator and associate community affairs representative at Dominion Energy. "The Arbor Day Foundation has been a longtime partner with Dominion Energy and we're thrilled to celebrate these major milestones with them. Together, we're helping students of all ages understand that trees improve air quality, provide a home for wildlife, prevent soil erosion and provide many more benefits to the ecology."
West noted that Project Plant It! added the pollinator feature to the program in the 2020-2021 academic year. "Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and bats are some of the pollinators that play an essential role in supporting our nation's food system and the sustainability of our environment," she added. "Project Plant It! aims to increase bee populations by having students plant pollinator gardens at their homes, on school grounds or in their communities."
Each year, teachers appreciate Dominion Energy's support of environmental education. "Thank you for the hundreds of tree seedlings and wildflower seed packets that you shipped to our school," said Barb Currey, a primary science specialist at Cuyahoga Heights Elementary School in Ohio. "Project Plant It! is truly a wonderful program!"
The Educator Resources page of the Project Plant It! website includes a variety of hands-on instructional materials about trees and pollinators, including free STEM-based lesson plans, a list of books and online resources, a participant certificate, and more. Many of the materials are available in English and Spanish.
For more information, visit projectplantit.com or "Like" Project Plant It! on Facebook.
Fast Facts about Arbor Day
- J. Sterling Morton was a journalist and editor of Nebraska's first newspaper.
- In 1872, at a meeting of the State Board of Agriculture, Morton proposed a tree-planting holiday called Arbor Day.
- Support for this new holiday was so great that one million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day.
- Today, Arbor Day is celebrated in every state in the U.S. and in many countries around the world.
- In Morton's words: "Other holidays repose upon the past; Arbor Day proposes for the future."
- The Arbor Day Foundation was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to planting trees in neighborhoods, communities, cities and forests throughout the world.
Fast Facts about Project Plant It!
- Arbor Day 2022 will mark the 16th time that thousands of students in communities served by Dominion Energy will plant trees that they have received from Project Plant It! It will be the second time that students will receive wildflower seed packets to plant a pollinator garden.
- The tree seedlings and wildflower packets are shipped to participants in March/April by the Arbor Day Foundation, a longtime partner with Dominion Energy.
- Online enrollment is now open at projectplantit.com until all supplies of tree seedlings and wildflower seed packets have been taken.
- Project Plant It! is offered only in areas served by Dominion Energy. If the website does not accept the registration, educators can still benefit from Project Plant It! by downloading the free resources about trees and pollinators on the website.
- From April 2007-April 2021, approximately 730,000 tree seedlings and wildflower seed packets (combined number) have been distributed by Dominion Energy and Project Plant It! In April 2022, another 102,000 trees and seed packets (combined number) are expected to be distributed.
