Sprout with us this spring!

Is it April already? For us at Sustainability Matters, 2023 so far has buzzed by in a swarm of new hires, new partnerships, and new programs. Visit our Newsroom to catch up on coverage, including the Virginia Recycling Association’s visit to a Making Trash Bloom site, an article on SM’s grassroots journey in the national NonProfit Times, and our “next big thing”, EcologiGALs.

Help us grow this season: get involved with our Action Items; Laugh & Learn at our events; and, as always, support us with your Sustainability Matters membership.

New to the SM family? Get to know us.

Action Items

Volunteer to Make Trash Bloom!

We’re looking for volunteers for environmental data collection and community education at our Rappahannock County Making Trash Bloom site. Join us on Saturday, April 29, for volunteer orientation. Get all the deets and register here.

Advocate for our municipal meadow!

We’re a-flutter with excitement about Pollinators in the Park, our partnership with Winchester, Virginia’s Parks & Rec Dept. to plant a native meadow in the city center. Two years in the making, this project has reached a decisive moment: Winchester City Council is determining next year’s budget now. If you live in or near Winchester, let City Council know you want the meadow and the public outreach and education that will go along with it. Read all about the project and whom to contact here.

Laugh & Learn

Plant-Themed Art Show

Our friends at Woodstock’s Valley Educational Center for the Creative Arts (VECCA) are celebrating the Earth by hosting a plant-themed show during April and May. A portion of the proceeds will benefit SM. Stop by the artists’ reception this Thursday, April 13, from 5-7 pm at VECCA (123 S. Main St., Woodstock, VA).

What’s Up With Recycling?

We know you’re wondering; most people are! On Tuesday, May 16, from 7-8 pm ET, join us for a free (and fun) webinar demystifying recycling. Find out why you can’t recycle most plastics and glass, where your recyclables really go after you drop them off, and what you can do to help the situation. Get the details and register here. “What’s Up With Recycling?” is part of our new Rebranding Recycling project, supported by Virginia’s Dept. of Environmental Quality and the PATH Foundation. Keep an eye out for #RebrandingRecycling posts across our social media, radio PSAs, and more.

Meet Kenny!

Get to know the humans (and felines) behind Sustainability Matters. This year, we’ll be introducing staff, board members, and key volunteers through e-news and social media. If you’re impatient, meet the whole fam right away on our website.

Kenny Barnes, our new Program & Outreach Coordinator, developed a passion for plants and the environment while trapped indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic. He started 2020 with six houseplants and ended it with over 100. Meanwhile, he also began uploading educational videos on houseplant care, cultivation, and styling to his “plantsagram” (@aplantproject on TikTok and Instagram), and now has more than 200,000 followers across all social media platforms. You’ll be seeing much more of Kenny as he takes Sustainability Matters’ social media equally viral. He’s off to a stellar start: this weekend, his videos on our brand new TikTok racked up 1.2 million views! Yes, that was “million”.

When he isn't tending his now 200 houseplants or shaking his booty for views on social media, Kenny enjoys reading, traveling, hiking among native plants, watching basketball, and loving on his cats, Kawhi and Cleo.