Natalie Woodland
Former Conservation Associate, Environment Colorado
Thousands of Coloradans have joined our call for the state to take one of the best actions to protect pollinators - eliminate the consumer sale of products containing the bee-killing pesticide neonics.
Former Conservation Associate, Environment Colorado
Director, Public Lands Campaign, Environment America
Today, we launched our statewide Save the Bees campaign to respond to the drop in population of pollinators by stopping the consumer sale of neonics, a bee-killing pesticide.
Nearly one in four native bee species is imperiled. Honeybee colonies throughout the country are collapsing. Everything in nature is connected, and bee die-offs are no exception. One in every three bites of food we eat depends on pollinators. Our world needs bees and so do we.
Photo by Marek Walica | Shutterstock.com
Here in Colorado, we have the 5th most bee diversity in the country.
Scientists point to a class of pesticides called “neonics” as one of the causes of bee die-offs.
Over the last few months, we’ve built broad support to ensure products containing these dangerous bee-killing neonic pesticides cannot be bought at everyday stores.
With this support, we’re calling on state legislators to pass a bill that limits neonics.
Check out the support we’ve built up over the past three months.
Since August, 1,263 people and counting have added their name to our Save the Bees petition, calling on state legislators to stop the sale to the general public of neonics. That’s in addition to the 22,717 that have signed our petitions over the past few years.
That’s 23,980 people from Durango to Fort Collins who agree – we must protect our pollinators.
322 people have also posed for photo petitions showing their support to Save the Bees.
141 businesses, farms, beekeepers, and health professionals have added their name to our support letter as well.
This fall, our team of volunteers from CU Boulder have spent many afternoons recruiting local businesses and are continuing to do outreach to other parts of the state.
Add you business or farm to our growing list of supporters.
141 businesses, farms, beekeepers, and health professions have signed our letter as of November 29, 2022Photo by Staff | TPIN
We’ve also taken to the opinion pages and generated letters-to-the-editor in Denver, Boulder and Glenwood Springs including:
Throughout the fall, we combined our advocacy with education events to not just build support to eliminate harmful neonics use in our urban areas but also plant wildflower seeds and build up bee-friendly habitats.
Activating people at a Denver River Clean-Up at Confluence Park, September 25
We had a great time educating people about our Save the Bees campaign and collecting petitions before they headed off to clean-up the South Platte River.
Environment Colorado staff gather petitions at Confluence Park in DenverPhoto by Staff | TPIN
Trick-or-Seeding in Boulder, October 30
A team of CU Boulder students delivered more than 100 seed balls the night before Halloween at their reverse trick-or-treating event, Trick-or-Seeding to Save the Bees. Students also asked residents to sign our petition.
Our event was covered by Denver’s CBS4.
“Trick-or-seed! We’re here to protect our bees.” 🎃
A team of CU Boulder students delivered more than 100 seed balls the night before Halloween at their reverse trick-or-treating event, Trick-or-Seeding to #SaveTheBees
Thanks @CBSNewsColorado https://t.co/YD1Xz47hFv pic.twitter.com/DQAiPtCdlV
— Environment Colorado (@EnvironmentCO) November 1, 2022
Activating people at the Mission Ballroom in Denver, November 4 and 5
We gathered support to Save the Bees at Mission Ballroom’s Mission Row over the weekend. Fittingly, we also reminded people to “Bee Grateful” as we were at the Grateful Dead’s lead guitarists concert, Bob Weir.
We gathered support from tons of people to #SaveTheBees at @missionballroom’s Mission Row over the weekend! Thank you Mission Ballroom & @BobWeir for having us & letting us remind people to #BeeGrateful https://t.co/sxiM9NqpDB pic.twitter.com/AzkdcZ6hcD
— Environment Colorado (@EnvironmentCO) November 8, 2022
Protect Our Pollinators in Edgewater, November 12
Late fall is actually one of the best times of the year to plant wildflower seeds. Tons of families stopped by at Edgewater Market to learn about the importance of bees, make pollinator-friendly seed balls and sign our petition.
Families made pollinator-friendly seed balls and signed petitions at our Edgewater Marketplace event.Photo by Staff | TPIN
Former Conservation Associate, Environment Colorado
Ellen runs campaigns to protect America's beautiful places, from local beachfronts to remote mountain peaks. She sits on the Steering Committee of the Arctic Defense Campaign and co-coordinates the Climate Forests Campaign. Ellen previously worked as the organizing director for Environment America’s Climate Defenders campaign and managed grassroots campaign offices across the country. Ellen lives in Denver, where she likes to hike in Colorado's mountains.