Time to gather the kids and hunt for Easter eggs—monarch butterfly eggs, that is! This weekend, our endangered native monarch butterflies will begin arriving back in Western North Carolina from their overwintering sites in southern Mexico.

“What happens when our schools, our roads, and all of our public greenways are surrounded by dead forest?”

Raven Sterling, owner of Raven Invasive Management, can’t look around at the invasive plants strangling Asheville’s trees without seeing a ticking clock.

Im starting off our Climate Resilience Q&A series with a little wisdom on emergency preparedness from the Boy Scouts of America, whose motto is “Be Prepared.”

Mary Pat and her husband Tom are our 2022 Urban Forestry Heroes for their willingness to take action to create a climate-resilient future for our community.

Mary Pat and Tom lived abroad for years, and landed in North Asheville when they moved back. Questions about how to care for the trees on their own property prompted them to get involved with the GreenWorks Sand Hill Tree Nursery and the TreeKeeper program.

Do you want to go fishing next to used baby diapers or paddle your kayak past porta-potty parts?

Neither did George Santucci.

George is our 2022 Water Quality Hero for his leadership and creative pursuit of innovative solutions to urgent water quality challenges in Boone, N.C.

Meet Bryan Tompkins, our Native Pollinator Hero for 2022, who inspired us with his big energy and relentless commitment to plant new pollinator habitat everywhere he can.

“You don’t have to have hundreds of acres of habitat before you start seeing some benefit to native species. Every little bit truly does help,” Bryan said.

Meet our 2022 Rivers & Roads Hero: Pat, a retired school counselor and tireless river guardian.

For about a year, every time she drove down Emma Road, she complained about the litter she saw.

“I live about seven minutes from Emma, and I use it all the time. I kept complaining that it looks awful. Every time I was in the car, I would say, ‘There’s so much litter. There’s got to be something I can do about it,’” Pat said

We'd like to share one of the most heartwarming stories we've heard in a long time.

It starts with a brave 10-year-old, some chickens & birthday money, and a very proud family.

This summer, the International Union for Conservation of Nature classified the migratory monarch butterfly as “Endangered." This news was tough to hear, but our Bee City USA - Asheville Leadership Committee didn’t get discouraged. They got to work.

This spring, our Mind Your Plastic May (MYPM) Challenge winner, Renee, inspired us by taking small everyday action to reduce the waste she created. Six months later, we caught up with her to hear more about her waste reduction journey.

We often meet volunteers for just a single project, and don’t have the opportunity to see the impact joining alongside GreenWorks has on them. A year ago, we met Devin, and just recently he shared about the impact volunteering with GreenWorks has had on the course of his life.

This past Saturday our dedicated Treasured Tree committee gathered with the Oakley TreeKeepers and community members from the Oakley neighborhood to honor a 210-year-old White Oak thriving at the site of The Western North Carolina AIDS Project (WNCAP).

Tallis is our superstar environmental educator. Each year, she leads more than 50 workshops throughout Asheville and WNC helping groups launch recycling programs, start composting, and especially this fall, plant pollinator habitat. We had a planting day recently…

This fall, Asheville GreenWorks will give away more than 400 trees to Buncombe County residents, passing the 5,000 tree mark — the first major milestone on our journey to restore the tree canopy 50 percent by 2040.

For many, a leaf-strewn yard is a nuisance, a mess to be cleaned up and hauled away. Leaves are seen as a detriment to the idyllic American lawn. If you’re an organic gardener, you may look at fall leaves in a different light…

As colder weather and our first hard frosts open up the landscape to bare bones, it’s the perfect time to prepare for next year’s growing season. Save those leaves! Prepping for next season begins with supporting our pollinators and other beneficial insects through winter. If we work too hard at cleaning up, they will suffer.

Let the leaves touch the earth this year by choosing to leave them on your lawns and yards. Fall is the perfect time to start composting. Read more to find out why!

If you are participating in any December festivities, it’s important to reflect on how our decision-making around the holidays can affect the environment. From the period between Thanksgiving to New Years, the United States creates 25% more waste than any other time of the year.

Whether you're an avid gardener or have never put a plant in the ground, we all have reasons to compost... There are different ways to compost. Even if you don't have a backyard, there may be a method for you!

The project will take place in Asheville, Buncombe County, along a section of the Wilma Dykeman Riverway that runs through the highly urbanized River Arts District on the banks of the French Broad River.