Shipping container aka Pollinator hotel

• • allows us to repurpose and reuse something

  • something to center our habitat around

  • home for pollinators during cold season

• Butterfly habitat

  • though we are interested in creating a space that caters to multiple pollinators

  • can achieve this by planting many native plants that work well together and appeal to multiple pollinators

• Solar Panels

  • allow lighting inside the container and around the habitat

  • allow us to explore winterizing the shipping container to possibly preserve pollinators or plants inside during the colder months

• Education/Awareness

  • goal is to educate the public and raise awareness about pollinators and their habitats

  • possible educational signage within the habitat

  • involve local schools or other groups

  • make parts of the habitat interactive

• pollinators are a crucial part of the ecosystem - almost 80% of crops need help from pollinators!

• pollinator help usually results in healthier, more abundant crops

• without pollinators, we would lose between a third and half of all fruits, vegetables, and related products, and those left would likely be of lesser quality

• pollinators support flowering plants that are important for other things like different animals, soil erosion prevention, water purification, and carbon sequestration

• pollinators are also responsible for many of the flowering plants that simply bring beauty to our environment - and the pollinators themselves can be beautiful!

• pollinators have been declining in the last several decades due to things like habitat loss, human pesticide usage, large scale agriculture, and disease

• studies show that beekeepers lost about 45% of their colonies between April 2020 and April 2021

• other pollinators are also endangered, including the Monarch Butterfly which we have given some specific focus to

The key feature included in this project is a renovated shipping container. Utilizing a used shipping container allows us the opportunity to repurpose and reuse something and also gives us something to center our habitat around. There are two purposes for the container dependent on what time of year it is. During spring and summer months the container will be opened up to the public emphasizing the educational aspects of our project. Come winter time, it will be winterized in order to serve as a pollinator hotel during colder months in hopes that it could maximize survival.

Here is our potential site location, in regards to the spatial development around it. As you can see, Mildred C. Wells Academy (K-8) is fairly close to this site location. The Arts District of Benton Harbor is somewhat within walking distance, as well as the Benton Harbor Public Library and the green space neighboring it, City Center Park. City Center Park regularly has farmer's markets open to the public, and a plethora of events are common to the Art's District as well. The location of this site is optimal for community involvement.

Our second potential site is Thayer Park, which lies in the northwest side of the Art's District, in front of Thayer Products Inc. Owned by Thayer Product's Inc., this park provides not only shade, flowers, and greenspace, but also provides benches and other seating to visitors. This site is much more "user-friendly" than our first potential site, by which we mean it already has established design (i.e. benches and perennial flowers), but it has its limitations relative to our first potential site. Not only is it small in size, but it also is tucked away in the Art's District, which is located opposite of Benton Harbor's largest suburbs. This prevents our habitat from being more accessible to the people who need greenspace the most.

“Mildred C. Wells Academy is a team of dedicated professionals working to raise the bar in public education. By continually challenging ourselves, we strive for continuous improvement toward a common goal: to assure every student achieves to his or her own unique potential.”