TAMPA, Fla. — Tuesday is "World Pest Day" — a day created to get people to think about pest management. But one Tampa business owner says it might be better to get to know about those insects and why they are important to our environment.
Anita Camacho is the owner of the Little Red Wagon Native Nursery in South Tampa and is also the president and founder of the Tampa Bay Butterfly Foundation.
She is often asked to speak about preserving our environment. So she was thrilled to be invited to Kennedy Space Center recently to give a presentation on sustainability.
"I think they're looking for alternative ways for us to live and a lot of different things we can do here versus maybe other places," Camacho said. "So I think it's just taking a look at how we take care of the earth and how important that is and that this is home."
Camacho adds that her message is important for everyone, whether you're a NASA engineer or a kid in school. We need to start protecting what we have.
"Sustainability is just having our landscapes working for us and helping our pollinators and helping our food chain. The bottom of the food chain is insects and the top of the food chain is us. And without them, the top of the food chain is not going to work which is where we are."
Camacho is passionate about limiting the use of pesticides and toxic chemicals which she says will also protect our own health. Her message was initially presented to about 200 NASA employees in person and online, but it was recorded so it could be made available to all 8,000 employees.