You’ve probably already heard that the world’s bee population is rapidly disappearing, but did you know that there may be something you can do about it? A San Francisco-based startup called Seedles is on a mission to grow one billion wildflowers, which will hopefully help the bee population bounce back. Since bees are crucial pollinators in the Earth’s delicate ecosystem, the availability of almost everything we eat and drink depends on their wellbeing.
Bees aren’t the only pollinators in our ecosystem, but along with animals like birds, butterflies, and certain insects, they are responsible for coating their bodies in pollen before spreading the dust from plant to plant. But as civilizations have progressed and the natural landscapes of generations past have all but disappeared, the decline of wildflowers has led to the decline of bees. Fruits and vegetables depend on the bees for pollination, so do the crops in foods you might not find in the produce aisle, like cereals or baked goods. Even the coffee and tea many cultures around the world drink regularly are intimately tied to the health of the global bee population.
That’s why Seedles is selling “seed bombs” – packages of mixed organic compost materials embedded with completely natural wildflower seeds. Each seed bomb is the size of a nickel, and costs about $1 for a single “bomb” or $9 for a full guerrilla gardening kit. For the best results for your wildflowers and the environment at large, Seedles recommends you plant flowers local to your region. The wildflowers to choose from include Blue Flax, California Poppies, Texas Bluebonnets, and more. Once the flowers you planted begin to take root and blossom, you will have helped the environment in more ways than the naked eye can see.
Seedles is aiming to plant one billion wildflower seeds with their seed bomb activism. The company has already passed the 35 million flower mark, but Seedles admits it didn’t come up with the seed bomb concept. The term dates back through decades of green-thumbed activism. Since tilling soil on private property is probably a bad idea and is often illegal, Seedles encourages people to plant seed bombs in their own homes, local gardens, or even abandoned lots.
