Members of Team HPNE Participate in Save the Bay Event

On April 11th, members of the HPNE marketing team participated in a Dune Grass Planting event run by Save the Bay. The event was held at Fogland Beach, located in Tiverton, Rhode Island. Their volunteer efforts helped to restore dunes that were affected by the storms experienced in Southern New England during December of 2023 and January of 2024. It is one of the many events in Save the Bay’s habitat restoration efforts, and the ultimate goal of the day's work was to help manage stormwater, increase resilience in the area, and restore the salt marsh habitat.

What is Save the Bay?

Founded in 1970, Save the Bay is a non-profit organization providing advocacy, education, and habitat restoration in the Narragansett Bay area, which stretches across over 400 miles of coastline throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Along with hosting beach cleanups to ensure existing beaches and other coastal areas stay clean, Save the Bay also takes volunteers for habitat restoration projects, which aid a variety of habitats including urban ponds and waterways, coastal salt marshes, rivers and streams, mud flats, and more.?

If you are interested in volunteering at Save the Bay, you can visit their volunteer portal to learn about shoreline cleanups and habitat restoration opportunities.

The Significance of Habitat Restoration

Habitat destruction happens at an alarming rate, and is the leading threat to 85% of all species officially classified as threatened or endangered according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Additionally, according to Harvard University, about 30,000 species per year are being driven to extinction. The African Conservancy Foundation estimates that wildlife habitats are being destroyed worldwide at a rate of approximately 5,760 acres per day.?

There are many benefits to habitat restoration, including protecting biodiversity and essential resources, protecting human health, creating jobs, and preserving ways of life. Efforts to protect and rebuild existing habitats can also aid in protecting and building up the population of endangered species. In 2023, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded over $265 million to fund 38 projects through the Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience funding opportunity.?

How HPNE Remains Dedicated to Sustainability

For specifics on how High Purity New England has incorporated environmentally conscious and sustainable initiatives throughout our facilities, visit our article on Practicing Environmental Responsibility.