Save More Bees

The decline in the honeybee population has far reaching implications for our agricultural food supply. Pesticides, herbicides, atmospheric electromagnetic radiation, climate change and loss of foraging habitat are some of the causative factors being investigated. Research into “in the hive” effects of local agriculture on honeybees is being conducted.

además has partnered with Arvin Pierce, the Illinois State Beekeeper of the Year in 2022, to build hives at local schools, relocate at-risk hives to organic farms, and hold presentations about the importance of pollinators and sustainability. Arvin is an adjunct professor at Blackburn College teaching classes focused on beekeeping without the use of chemicals. Pollinator libraries have been developed and implemented at schools and children’s museums in the U.S. and Baja, Mexico. This collaborative relationship focuses on educating students of all age groups through hands-on education, demonstrations, and workshops to create an awareness of this global bee problem and its effects on society.

Photo Credit: Arvin Pierce

Women of Water at Hurricane Island

además is partnered with the Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership located off the coast of Rockland, Maine. Through this partnership, además sponsors a program entitled Women of Water.

The Women of Water summer program affords 12 young female-identifying students from Maine high schools the opportunity to spend two weeks (one week on a 20-foot research vessel) learning about oceanography, marine biology, maritime history, sustainability, marine technology and environmental stewardship. además provides educational materials including marine biology textbooks, research equipment, and note-taking journals for individual student distribution. Program participants form hypotheses and conduct experiments during the two-week program. At the conclusion of the program, the students present their findings to their local communities.

Photo Credit: Jackson Wiley

GrowingGreat

además collaborates with GrowingGreat, a Los Angeles-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, to foster an awareness of the issue of sustainability in the realm of gardening through hands-on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) projects.

We participate in classroom activities at Los Angeles elementary schools, early education centers, and Boys & Girls Clubs to educate students in sustainable gardening practices and reduction or repurposing of plastics. We also provide books to a local elementary school’s student-built library, with books spanning multiple reading levels and environmental topics.

During the Covid-19 pandemic además assisted GrowingGreat with its at-home learning book delivery program, which provided families across the US with sustainability-focused children’s books.

Book Buddies

además has partnered with preschools, Early Education Centers (EECs), nonprofits, and community groups across the U.S. and Baja California, Mexico. además attends and participates in classes at several of the EECs, reads books about the environment to the children, and provides environmentally-focused children’s books in English and Spanish for their classrooms and libraries.

además is also partnered with a volunteer group, Feeding Families, in Baja to provide children of Oaxacan farm workers with art supplies, Spanish-language books, and classes centered around environmental themes. This volunteer group also provides a mobile library to local elementary schools featuring bilingual books about the environment.

The most recent additions to the Book Buddies program include partnerships with ProEsteros and SyCOMA, nonprofit organizations in Baja, Mexico. A brochure highlighting the species of birds found in and around Ensenada and the Punta Banda estuary is currently in development. The brochure will be part of a national scientific collection, listing both endangered and non-endangered species of birds in both English and Spanish. Each species will include an illustration to allow for easier identification in the field.

además also initiated a new project with a previous partner, Kidzeum. además facilitated the purchase of necessary materials to build an augmented-reality topographic sandbox inside the Kidzeum museum, with the purpose of teaching students of all ages how sea-level rise will affect Earth’s land masses.

Over The Years

But that’s not all we’ve done since 1997. Some of our other projects have included sponsoring an environmental mural created from student artwork and library expansion at a local below-the-poverty-line middle school, creating and sponsoring an environmental stewardship competition and award at a local high school, creating and building a natural green space using local plants at a Los Angeles elementary school, expanding environmental awareness offerings at school and community libraries, and sponsoring invasive species beach cleanups.

We look forward to updating you on our future projects!