A few weeks ago a group of dedicated ioby volunteers came to our office to play with mud.
With Green Guerillas community organizer Hannah Riseley-White (who is awesome), we all made seedballs -- spheres of clay, compost (from the Lower East Side Ecology Center) and native grass and wildflower seeds to toss into empty lots and bits of dirt that could use some green and flowers.
But why?
To get in touch with our roots, of course. In 1973, Liz Christy, an artist on the Lower East Side got some friends together to clean out a vacant lot on the corner of Bowery and Houston. They called themselves Green Guerillas, engaged in various activities including throwing seed "green-aids," and, by many, are credited with sparking the modern urban environmental activist movement in New York.
Still curious about these adorable little wildflower truffles?
Come on down to Patagonia in Soho this weekend where ioby is handing out seedballs to customers. We're tabling all weekend for the Patagonia Voice Your Choice contest where we're battling it out against our dear, dear friends at Rockaway Waterfront Alliance and Recycle-A-Bicycle, who, by the way, are fundraising for the Queens Bike Bonanza. Swing by, vote for your favorite group, pick up a seedball and scatter some seeds in your neighborhood. We'll be there all weekend.
Or, stay tuned, for the recipe to make your own seedball.