To celebrate and honor Earth Day, the Water Quality, Efficiency, & Stewardship (WQES) team collaborated with the Land, Buildings & Real Estate (LBRE) departments of Grounds Services and Land Use & Environmental Planning to organize a service event at three of Stanford’s important water-saving landscapes: the Arizona Garden, the Water Wise Garden, and the Foothills.

During Stanford’s Celebrating Sustainability fair, volunteers signed up to participate in one of the three service-day projects after first taking the Office of Sustainability pledge to save water. The projects gave volunteers the opportunity to get their hands dirty and help remove invasive weeds, mulch plants, trim overgrowth, and accomplish fieldwork in important places on campus. Fourteen volunteers helped the WQES team restore important habitats and spruce up notable campus gardens and foothill areas.

The LBRE partner departments led the restoration efforts, allowed access for the volunteers to work, and donated water and gloves. The event would not have been possible without the coordination and support of multiple campus groups and the enthusiastic volunteers.