Whenever I get overwhelmed with school and
my general responsibilities, I immediately jump to the conclusion that, “I
should quit school and save the bees.” (Does anyone else ever have this problem??) I know this sounds a little crazy, but
it’s like productive procrastination! If I were to “quit school” and run away
from my responsibilities to help a worthy cause, then it’s totally justified,
right? Well, I was definitely doing some “productive procrastination” and was
researching how to start saving the bees when I stumbled upon this: Seedles.
What are Seedles you may ask? They are, in the founders’ own
words, “rainbow bright balls of seed, compost, and clay.” Seedles are very
unique balls of wildflower seeds held together by clay and compostable matter.
Their purpose is to help restore the natural foliage and greenery that grow in
each region of the nation to help provide places of “work” for local
pollinators. Seedles had the mission to
grow 1 million wildflowers through the use, distribution, and planting of
Seedlesl; which was surpassed in 2014! By doing so, the movement and planting
of Seedles might just be the right step forward we need to begin saving the
bees.
I’m very serious when I say bees need our help. They have
been suffering from Colony Collapse Disorder for the past ten years, due, most
likely, to parasites, pesticides, and deforestation. With the help of Seedles,
the natural wildflowers that grow in your region can slowly be restored, which
will, in turn, help create natural jobs for the honeybees. These creations are
so unique and all you have to do to “plant” them is to simply throw them on the
ground – with some intention of spreading them out, of course. One Seedle can
grow enough wildflowers to cover one square foot of land. Because of this, as
long as you spread your Seedles out, they will help restore the natural
wildlife in your area.
The ever so creative innovation of Seedles, and their
effortless planting, reminds me of our lecture, in which a creative is
addressing a problem through a useful solution (Lecture, Morrison).
Additionally, the founders of Seedles approached a problem “in a creative way
to meet the needs of the community, therefore increasing the quality of life”
(McLean 226). If you don’t think bringing back wildflowers in a near effortless
and innovative design to save the bees is not creative, then I don’t know what
is.
So, maybe I will drop out of school, buy some Seedles, and
help save the bees… We’ll see how this semester goes.
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjsaZ3hbq14
McLean, Laird D. "Organizational Culture’s Influence on
Creativity and Innovation: A Review of the Literature and Implications for
Human Resource Development." Advances in Developing Human Resources 7.2
(2005): n.
The very real possibility of bee extinction is beyond terrifying. Agriculture, as we know it, would be unable to function without bees. Millions of people would starve as a result. I have read several articles linking the mass kill-off of bees with pesticides used in modern commercial farming. In addition, I have read that Monsanto, a major user of pesticides, has paid for the development of mechanical bees. It appears that Monsanto is more concerned about protecting their economic wellbeing with the creation of these robotic bees. It warms my heart that Seedles is dedicated to the preservation of natural bees, especially since I love honey. http://earthfirstjournal.org/newswire/2013/04/08/robotic-bees-to-pollinate-monsanto-crops/
ReplyDeleteI loved the passion behind this blog post. Seedles are a great example of a simple idea that can go a long way! I hope (for the bees sake) that seedles gain popularity, and spark motivation in more people to help save the bees!!!
ReplyDeleteThis post was pretty darn awesome. Great voice, but also great incorporation of information. I feel like for environmental issues and campaigns, a great deal of innovation comes with the delivery and marketing of a product. For Seedles, their ease of use (and cool name) make it an innovative and seemingly popular solution to help change the direction of bee population decreases. I am pretty darn sold on these, and will look into purchasing some midwest Seedles once they are back in stock. I am also interested in what other ways the creators of Seedles want to address Colony Collapse Disorder, and what led them to developing the Seedle. Thanks, and great post!
ReplyDeleteThis is an awesome post! Thanks for opening up our eyes to a pressing problem, and a simple yet super effective solution! I just recently read about an 11 year old girl, Mikaila Ulmer, whose lemonade business BeeSweet just landed her an 11 million contract with Whole Foods - and the best part is she is choosing to donate 20% of her earnings to companies and organizations working to save the bees! You can find Mikaila's story here: http://time.com/4277590/whole-foods-bees-lemonade/
ReplyDeleteIt's great when we realize that our decision as consumers, of products like Seedles or BeeSweet, can have a positive effect on the world around us.
Great post about a huge problem that our world is facing. The decreasing populations of bees is an overlooked problem with many negative impacts caused by the importance of bees in most ecosystems. Seedles are an easy and fun way to help improve populations of native plants, and therefore bees. I think these would be a great way for parents to teach small children about taking care of our planet. The different colors are a great way to keep them engaged.
ReplyDeleteI was really interested in this post. Back home in the suburbs, my dad raises bee hives and we are constantly planting flowers and starting our garden. For us, but also for the bees. But in the grand scheme of things, this is a small contribution to the large problem of bee extinction. Seedles seems like a very simple fix to this problem that we are facing. I like how they take into account different flowers for different regions. I will definitely have to get some of the midwest flowers when they are back. Thanks for a really relevant and impactful post!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a unique concept! We always hear about how the bees are dying, and various celebrities have taken it as their 'fight', but this Seedles concept is one of the first real steps I've seen that has been taken to actually DO something about this. And the fact that every packet is sold for different regions and climates is really great for positive climate/environment impact, so as not to further exacerbate the situation of the Colony Collapse. Maybe my roommates and I can get a Seedles packet for the little patch of green outside our apartment!
ReplyDeleteThis was very interesting! I have to say I've never considered dropping out of school to save the bees. I found myself thinking about how I would not be sad if I didn't have to worry about getting stung by a bee ever again, but without bees the environment would be drastically different! This is a very doable approach to solve this problem; definitely a creative idea. I hope this product gets more publicity because this is something everyone could do!
ReplyDeleteI think this is an awesome idea. It's an easy way for people to help preserve the environment in their area. This is asking very little of each individual, but if a lot of us put in that effort it could help combat colony collapse. Something needs to be done before bees disappear completely from our ecosystem, and this is a good way of getting everyday people involved in saving the bees.
ReplyDelete