Over the past couple of years, we have adopted a section of the George Washington Memorial Parkway (www.nps.gov/gwmp) just outside of Washington, D.C. & have been clearing invasive species on a regular basis to keep the forest along the Parkway healthy. In partnership with The Nature Conservancy (www.nature.org), what began as an insurmountable task, turning around non-native growth over acres and acres of beautiful, urban old growth forestland is now showing great signs of progress.
The George Washington Memorial Parkway stands as a memorial to George Washington. It connects historic sites from Washington’s home at Mt. Vernon, past the nation’s capital, to the Great Falls of the Potomac, where Washington demonstrated his skill as an engineer. Along the way, visitors to this historic roadway can explore our Nation’s history, from George Washington to World War II and beyond. These places are all linked by this planned and landscaped road, the first section of which was completed in 1932 to commemorate the bicentennial of George Washington’s birth.
Upon our last trip into the woods to continue the clearing, we really started to see the fruits of our labors as native species and trees like boxwoods now beginning to flourish in the areas where we have been working – a great site to see and proof as to how we can each have an impact in our own communities and how it can all really add up when you look at the thousands and thousands of similar projects being conducted nationwide and worldwide by The Conservancy, in addition to other organizations such as the Sierra Club and locally in DC like the Potomac Conservancy.
Our volunteer efforts, which included in 2007 work with other organizations such as Points of Light, Food and Friends and Habitat for Humanity remain at the core of what we strive to achieve at BetterWorld – so many organizations have similar programs in place and the collective impact on the environment and society is staggering. Please contact us if you would like more information on any of these organizations or if you would like to start a similar program within your own organization. Just send an email to wecare@betterworldtechnology.com and we will be in touch to help.
Posted in: Volunteering
