CARES On the Wing
Each year, a hundred million North American monarch butterflies complete a timeless ritual: a mass migration from south to north in the spring, and from north to south in the autumn. The journey, up to 3,000 miles in either direction, is too long for any one butterfly to complete in its short lifespan. How, then, do these delicate creatures weighing less than a gram each find their way from the oyamel fir forests of Mexico to as far as Canada and back?
The unseen forces guiding this process remain something of a mystery. How do the monarchs know when it s time to travel south for the winter? Scientists believe the migration is triggered by multiple cues including the lower angle of sunlight, chemicals from the seasonal decay of surrounding plants, and gently cooling temperatures. Questions about the migration flyway are harder to parse. Are the monarchs guided by the terrain, or do they chemically mark their pathways on the trip north? Do they use photoreceptors in their antennae to navigate with the sun as a compass, or does the species have a genetic memory or inherited map? Are they guided by the magnetic pull of the earth? We don t know for sure.
We do know, however, that the monarchs are in danger. Habitat loss, pesticide use, and an uncertain climate make the migration more difficult each year. Monarch caterpillars depend upon a sole food source, milkweed, for nutrition and shelter, and large-sale decline of milkweed plants is threatening the species. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the monarch population has declined by 80% in the last 20 years, and the monarchs need help in order to survive. LS3P s Savannah office is located along the East Coast flyway, and is an excellent position to offer a safe harbor for at least one step of the journey. As part of a friendly inter-office Earth Day competition held by the firm each April, the office volunteered to design and build a custom butterfly hut to provide food and shelter for hatching butterflies, and an opportunity to learn about the monarchs for local students.
WEST BROAD STREET YMCA EXISTING GREENHOUSE LS3P teamed with the West Broad Street Y, a vital community resource which provides childcare, educational programs, and recreational activities to an underserved community. The Y s Community Urban Farm already had raised bed planters and a greenhouse, and the butterfly hut created another place for kids to observe and learn about nature up close. The opportunity to create both a local and a global impact made the design of the butterfly hut more meaningful for all. CLEARED SITE The design of the hut is simple, sustainable, replicable, and beautiful. The structure uses readily available materials such as repurposed brick pavers and recycled pallet wood for support, while screening allows air flow, natural light, and transparency. Many of the materials were salvaged or donated, making it an easy idea for other groups with modest budgets to recreate.
A planting bed for milkweed will support all phases of the monarch life cycle, and a feature wall made from upcycled plastic bottles and locally harvested bamboo filters light and sparks imagination. Not least, an operable roof hatch will allow for the safe and ceremonial release of mature butterflies as they move on to the next chapter in their endless (we hope) cycle of migration.
The permanent structure will safely house monarch caterpillars while allowing the children to witness firsthand the butterfly life cycle and the importance of pollinators and their habitats. Because of the simple, economical design which can be constructed with volunteer labor, the Savannah team hopes that other groups will follow its lead and create similar structures to support the monarch population throughout their habitat range. Robert Frost called butterflies flowers that fly, and all but sing. Long live the monarchs, and may they continue to inspire us with their mysterious flight!
LS3P s Earth Day Initiative Though our commitment to sustainability is in full force year-round, we believe that Earth Day presents an opportunity to highlight sustainability across our communities. Since 2015, LS3P has held a firmwide Earth Day Initiative, inviting all eight offices to lead sustainable projects in their local communities. Each office is tasked with identifying specific issues or needs, and creating design solutions to address them.
2018 2017 2016 2015 Each year one office is declared an official winner and receives a trophy; however, the real winners are our employees and community partners. Winning projects have included: 2018: The Savannah, GA butterfly hut for the West Broad Street Y Community Urban Farm 2017: A design for a community pavilion for Raleigh City Farm in Raleigh, NC 2016: A triathlon of events in the Charleston, SC area including garden renovations at a neighborhood school, a kayak waterway cleanup, and an oyster reef habitat build 2015: A lesson about recycling with local school children involving re-use of empty K-cups for planting seeds in Wilmington, NC
2018 projects This friendly competition has pushed us to use our talents wisely, and has sparked creativity and passion among the entire staff. The initiative now serves as a catalyst for larger design discussions and creates avenues for meaningful community engagement. Design and implementation of the projects raise important questions, such as: how do we design selfsustaining, fully-functional projects from start to finish? Which projects will have a lasting impact? How do we incorporate best practices for sustainability at the earliest stages of design to ensure a holistic approach? How do we best use our time and talents as designers to effect meaningful change? We look forward to continuing these important conversations as we engage our communities in finding solutions to these issues. Myrtle Beach For Earth Day 2018, our Myrtle Beach team designed and installed a sensory garden for Savannah s Playground, a barrier-free park designed for children of all abilities. The garden allows kids and their families to smell, hear, touch, see, and taste plants for education and enjoyment. Charleston Our Charleston office teamed up with local charity Fields to Families for Earth Day 2018 to design and build a low-cost, multifunctional greenhouse with volunteers from across the Lowcountry. Charlotte Charlotte worked with Center City Partners for its 2018 project, which focused on improving pedestrian connections along the city s light rail line. Activities included a creek clean-up and a design charrette for a permanent urban trail installation.
Raleigh The Raleigh office coordinated with the City of Raleigh and the Dorothea Dix Conservancy to create an Earth Day 2018 pop-up installation highlighting an underutilized pedestrian access point for the city s new Dix Park. Greenville Our Greenville office planted eight trees to offset in-house printing over the past year, and implemented strategies to reduce printing, compost food waste, and minimize coffee waste in the office. Wilmington The Wilmington office worked with student at GLOW Academy to present an interactive lesson about the impact of plastics on our oceans, recycling, and upcycling. The team worked with Anova and Kester & Company, who generously donated two benches made from recycled plastics to the campus. Columbia The Columbia Office had a swale time at Jackson Creek Elementary School celebrating Earth Day 2018 with some of the fourth grade students. We partnered with our environmental engineers to install educational signage about the school s sustainable features.
Project Highlights (2015-2018) Collecting old cell phones and chargers for survivors of domestic violence, providing communication tools to an underserved population while diverting potentially toxic landfill waste Revitalizing numerous outdoor classrooms for partner schools and organizations in several communities Donating office compost to a local community garden Hosting alternative transportation days for staff members Cleaning up local beaches, parks, and neighborhoods Supporting pollinator habitats by creating and distributing beefriendly guerrilla seed bombs Planting trees Supporting clean water fundraising events Assisting with landscaping for public parks Hosting a free pop-up materials market for the community, diverting unused architectural samples from the landfill and repurposing materials for local makers Teaching multiple Earth Day lessons at schools for local students Installing a new pathway through a school courtyard to re-energize learning spaces Planting a vegetable garden with local middle school students to help end community hunger Installing pollinator habitats at local farms and trails Reducing in-house coffee waste by overhauling beverage systems to minimize K-cup use
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