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This edition of “In the Field” had us walking the red carpet…well, at least into the lobby!

Courtesy of Indiana Forest Alliance

A brief primer on the Wild & Scenic Film Festival: It’s a call to action. The films illustrate not only the challenges facing our planet, but the work communities are doing to protect the environment and the places we love. The stories give us a sense of place and what it means to be responsible stewards of the earth. Greenscape Geeks strives to be a part of that stewardship through our eco-friendly and sustainable landscaping company.

We had a wonderful time at the Wild & Scenic Film festival presented by the Indiana Forest Alliance. Several films caused more than a few teary eyes, as well as some genuine smiles and laughter. From river basin advocacy in south Louisiana to saving three magnificent sequoia trees in Oregon, the breadth of subject matter in the films was as diverse as the event itself. We love attending events like this to make our presence known not only as a sponsor, but also as a community leader leading the charge for sustainable landscaping, native garden design, and ecologically friendly planting methods. If you follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, and our podcast) you’d have seen that we had a small giveaway for some tickets to the festival, and we were so stoked to see our winners show up to the premiere.

Some of the films hit closer to home (quite literally). The very first showing, Our Imperiled Forests, was a brief, poignant snapshot of the fight for Indiana’s public forests and what ordinary people can do to keep that land unmarred and enjoyable for generations to come.

The other film, Snag in the Plan focused even closer on an endangered species of bat in Indiana’s forests. The director of the film, Katelyn Calhoun, was also there to introduce the film. There were some familiar Indiana Forest Alliance faces there, like Executive Director, Jeff Stant.

To wrap up the film fest wrapped up with Nature Now, a passionate call to action from Greta Thunberg (sailboat captain and teen environmental champ extraordinaire) and George Monbiot (environmental writer and political activist). They advocated the use of tree-planting in tandem with or a substitute for the more extensive carbon sequestration solutions we are seeking for climate change. It was an awe-inspiring message that refreshed the audiences’ minds for 2020.

More important than cheering for environmental progress or giving away tickets is the opportunity to share our knowledge and enthusiasm with the environmental agents of change that stopped by our booth. These are regular citizens and residents like you, dear readers, who want to take steps to leave behind a healthier world for their kids and loved ones. Indianapolis residents who had traveled to Bloomington for the festival were surprised to learn about us if they hadn’t before. They were even more astonished at the variety of services we offered, like custom landscaping, fertilizing plants with organic treatment, and our urban organic gardening consultation. One visitor even mentioned they might move back to Indy to get the garden of their dreams; we’ll be waiting with a shovel and a native plant nursery when you get here! The next film showing will be in Ft. Wayne on March 22, 2020. If you get a chance to go, there will be a great crowd willing to answer any questions about becoming involved in Hoosier’s environmental stewardship and beyond. If you have any questions for us, we are ready to take on any challenges you have for your native plant gardening this year. Get ready to ditch your winter gloves for gardening gloves. There are a lot of exciting things on the horizon with Greenscape Geeks.

Greenscape Geeks is a central Indiana landscape architecture and landscape design, construction, and lawn maintenance company, serving Indianapolis (including Meridian Kessler, Herron Morton, Williams Creek, and Irvington), Carmel, Noblesville, Fishers, and Zionsville.