At the Dr. Elba and Domingo Garcia West Dallas STEM School, Toyota TERRA volunteers worked in collaboration with Roots & Shoots and Brother Bill’s Helping Hand, a local community food pantry, to host an event named "Bottles to Bounty." The event required advance preparation, transforming 120 used plastic water bottles that had been collected both on Toyota’s campus as well as from Brother Bill’s Helping Hand into planters by cutting them and adding wicks.

On the day of the event, which was hosted at the West Dallas STEM School on Earth Day, more than 100 students from the school participated by rotating through various activity stations. The stations were designed to help them learn about local plants and get their hands dirty in the school’s learning garden. The children and adults even cooperatively constructed a greenhouse from used plastic water bottles and bamboo stalks, demonstrating how recycling can lead to positive environmental outcomes.

In San Antonio, over 60 students from Hidden Cove STEAM Academy visited Toyota Texas, where the Tundra and Sequioa are assembled, to learn about local wildlife and their habitats. The day was filled with engaging talks from naturalists, including experts from Bracken Cave, who shared fascinating facts about the roughly 15 million Mexican free-tailed bats that summer in nearby Garden Ridge. Students also learned about the vital role of pollinators, such as bees, in maintaining healthy ecosystems. This hands-on experience not only educated the children about local wildlife but also instilled a sense of responsibility for their environment.

At Toyota’s Georgetown vehicle assembly plant in Kentucky, where Toyota assembles the Camry, RAV4, and Lexus ES, 55 seventh graders from Paris Middle School participated in an event focused on combating invasive species. Students learned about the detrimental effects of plants like Japanese honeysuckle and duckweed on local ecosystems, including harm on wildlife in area ponds and effects on water quality. They got to use nets to scrape the weed from the on-site pond and pulled down invasive vines in the woods near the facility.

The participants also learned how to remove thistle from pollinator prairie areas from Roundstone Native Seed, an Upton, Kentucky-based seed supplier of local grass, wildflower and legume species. The horticulturalists from Roundstone shared a lesson in meadow management from experts that have been growing and supplying high-quality regional plants to the Eastern U.S. for more than 20 years. The event highlighted the importance of maintaining native habitats and the role that young people can play in preserving biodiversity.

West Virginia students engaged with experts from a local non-profit, the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, and a professor from Marshall University to learn about native birds, wildlife conservation, and the impact of invasive species on local habitats.

The Three Rivers Avian Center, a local non-profit bird rescue center, brought owls and a raven, and discussed threats to these species and how they ended up at the rescue center.

An expert from the WILD program at the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources also provided students with hands-on learning experiences, such as handling furs and live turtles, to help foster a deeper understanding of the natural world.

Professor Rick Gage from Marshall spoke about the impact of Sericea Lespedeza, an invasive weed introduced decades ago to provide hay for farmers in the state. Unfortunately, the weed has become invasive, outcompeting other plants for water and nutrients. The Roots & Shoots event participants were given gloves and tools to help remove as much of the weed as they could from the surrounding area.

In September, Toyota joined forces with various organizations in Los Angeles, Calif. and Tampa Bay, Fla. to sponsor and support the Roots & Shoots mission at larger off-site events. The gatherings were rallies to support and inspire local action and promote positive change. Jane Goodall herself attended the events, sharing her wisdom and encouraging young people to take an active role in conservation.

In Tampa Bay, the basecamp’s focus was on protecting and restoring Florida’s largest open water estuary. The Los Angeles base camp coordinated efforts with local partners that included Rotary International, Wallis Annenberg PetSpace, L.A. Recreation & Parks, and the Port of Long Beach to combat food insecurity and promote native gardening at the International Day of Peace celebration held the same month in the San Pedro area, near Toyota’s operations that process vehicles coming in from Japan. The events showcased the power of community engagement in addressing environmental challenges.