One local project helps educate kids about the environment

Local project helps teach students lessons in sustainability

LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Nature is a beautiful thing. Blossoming flowers not only provide colorful backdrops for our neighborhoods, but their pollen spread by bees creates the growth of your favorite local fruits.

In recent years, there has been a dramatic decline in the bee population that can be largely attributed to habitat loss.

So, one man is on a mission to guide the next generation into planting wildlife to help save the creatures.

"The whole mission is plant, share and engage. We want to build a community around pollination and helping the Earth," says Vikhram Chhabra, Co-founder of the One Flower Project.

Chhabra and his team are working to make a difference one seed at a time.

"In these kits, the kids get a seed kit that grows really rapidly, helping out the pollinators. An instruction card so they can actually plant in a pot or directly in the ground," says Chhabra.

Currently, the project has caught on well at two local elementary schools. Chhabra donated seed packets to every fourth-grader at Manatee Elementary school.

The students loved the project and inspired the head of the cafeteria to grow the garden by adding a composting bin using leftover lunch foods.

"Now they're working with their cafeteria to compost all of the organic waste and now they're actually teaching their kids how to grow their own food," says Chhabra.

The success of the local project is beginning to take root in different places across the country, but overall Chhabra says in a world of virtual entertainment that he's just happy to see kids enjoy nature in its purest format.

"We can use technology for good, to interact with others and build a community. When we can get them outside, it just, it validates our mission and our mission is to just get the kids outside and let nature speak to them," says Chaabra.

To donate or learn more about 'One Flower Project' visit their website.