Did you know that native plants - once established - do not require the use of chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides to maintain their beauty? Or that they don’t require extra watering from our precious supply of potable water? Did you know that our native pollinators and birds generally prefer native plants for nectaring and seed?

You are invited to attend a free showing of Hometown Habitat - Stories of Bringing Nature Home on Wednesday, July 10th, at 6:00pm. Through its profile of 7 hometown habitat heroes, this film will help to answer these questions for you. The narrative thread of this 8-part documentary is provided by renowned entomologist Douglas Tallamy, Ph.D. whose research, books, and lectures about the use of non-native plants in landscaping sound the alarm about habitat and species loss. Tallamy challenges the notion that humans are here and nature is someplace else. Tallamy says, “It doesn’t have to and shouldn’t be that way.”

For two years, producer/director Catherine Zimmerman and film crew traveled around the country to visit hometown habitat heroes and film their inspiring stories of community commitment to conservation landscaping. Zimmerman shares these success stories and works in-progress that re-awaken and re-define our relationship with nature. The message will inspire you – all of us have the power to support habitat for wildlife and bring natural beauty to our patch of the Earth. The goal will energize you – to build a new army of habitat heroes and make natural landscaping the new landscaping norm.

The screening will be followed by a brief discussion and tour of the library's NEW native seed library and native plant demonstration garden, part of the new Grow RI Native Seeds (GRINS) network, a collaboration among libraries across the state aimed at empowering Rhode Islanders to grow and champion native plants via seeds, information, and programming. Made possible in part by a grant from the RI Office of Library and Information Services using funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

This program does not require registration, but you may sign up below to receive email reminders of the event.