Surprised by Simplicity: Gardening Greener
President's Message
"Our Surrounding Environment:
Let's Take Care of It"
This year Lady’s Island Garden Club will focus its attention on our fragile surrounding environment, and how everything we do has an impact upon it. Over the past year and a half our members have learned many things that can be done to help alter the way we go about our daily lives. From simple changes in our day-to-day lives, both professionally and personally, we are beginning to re-evaluate our situations and alter our habits—one step at a time, one day at a time.
We all know, of course, that change is never easy; with persistence these changes can become lifetime habits. We can make a difference to Lady’s Island and Beaufort County!
What kinds of changes am I talking about? When I learned, through my job, that marine animals eat plastic bags because they look like jellyfish or another type of food, I began to feel uncomfortable using plastic. Plastic bags can fill the stomachs of sea turtles, making them feel full; the animals starve to death. Plastics can also get caught in their throats and cause animals to suffocate. Instead of using plastic bags, I now use cloth/recycled bags whenever possible. There are other changes occurring at the Floyd household. We have changed most of the light bulbs in my home to compact fluorescent bulbs. We try to compost. We recycle newspaper, glass and plastics. Imagine teaching these concepts to young children—as I do at my job. The children are our future, the changes they—and we—make will have a lasting effect and make us better stewards of the environment.
This year the National Garden Club theme is “The World Around Us—Love It-Beautify It-Protect It”. As part of their initiative, we plan to plant daffodil bulbs and beautify Beaufort. ‘Accept the Challenge’ is the emphasis for the Garden Club of South Carolina. As part of the Garden Club of South Carolina, the Lady’s Island Garden Club will be working on several Historic Garden Initiatives, including the recording of data on historic gardens in the Beaufort area. These records will go in the Archives and become part of a permanent record. The Lady’s Island Garden Club’s theme, ‘Our Surrounding Environment: Let’s Take Care of It,’ fits well within the emphases of both the National and State Garden Clubs. Many of the programs this year will teach us about plants, animals, and the surrounding environment.
Further, I would like our Garden Club to create a Garden Therapy program for a local assisted living facility or school, a project that will assist residents or students in planting flowers, fruits or vegetables.
I appreciate the confidence you have placed in me. It is a great honor to be chosen by you to serve as your President, and I look forward to working with the Lady’s Island Garden Club to attain the goals set before us.
Pam Floyd
President
Lady’s Island Garden Club
August 2009
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