Q&A with Tiffany Bowen, Executive Director of Keep Warner Robins Beautiful
If you’re interested in saving Georgia’s bees and butterflies, you’re going to love learning more about this affiliate’s initiatives. Join us for a conversation about pollinator roadways, native plants, and the best way to be a changemaker in your own community.
You’ve been leading the charge at Keep Warner Robins Beautiful for several years now. Have you always been passionate about improving the environment?
I joined Keep Warner Robins Beautiful in 2020 after seeing the job posting and thinking to myself, there’s no way the city has a position this perfect! I’ve always been interested in the environment, particularly ecology, and I started learning how plants and animals interact with each other from a very young age. This developed into a deeper passion as I grew older, and I ended up pursuing a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies. It’s my personal mission to be as environmentally friendly as possible, from driving a hybrid vehicle to installing solar panels at my house. Even some of our beautification sites are starting to be converted to solar energy.
I actually grew up in Aviano, Italy because my dad was in the Air Force. I got to travel all over Europe and see how much they preserve everything, not just historic buildings but their trees and green spaces too. Even fallow fields are full of poppies in the spring, because instead of mowing and taking away that habitat they strive to add beauty and nurture the environment. Their whole trash and recycling system is also different—they utilize everything, all the way down to composting, and moving to the states from that type of setup was a big shock for me. I want to bring what I learned from that experience here to Georgia, and create a greener place for my son and his generation to grow up in.
We’re currently celebrating Pollinator Week, and Keep Warner Robins Beautiful recently became part of BEE City USA. Can you tell us about some of the projects you’re doing to renew and restore pollinator habitats?
We became designated as a Bee City last year, and as part of that, we’re responsible for a few different initiatives, the first being to increase pollinator habitat in Warner Robins. When we received the certification, we got together and brainstormed the best way to get our community and government on board, and we decided that money talks! Sharing that we could save over $600,000 in maintenance and mowing by doing a planting project that cost less than $10,000 was a pretty effective way to get everyone to sign on. For our first project, we seeded the medians of Russell Parkway, one of our main thoroughfares, with wildflowers. That’s been eye-opening, and to be honest, the first year was a little rough. There’s a saying that comes along with seeding: “The first year they sleep, the second they creep, and the third they leap.” We didn’t have much to show at first, but in this, our second year, it’s paid off with 11 acres of beautiful blooms. We’ve received nothing but compliments, and people tell us they love seeing them on their drives to and from work. We’ve even had a few instances of people picking them, but we then saw about 500 Facebook comments from community members admonishing them and reminding them to leave them undisturbed for the pollinators. It’s been awesome to see people fiercely protect a project they were skeptical about initially, and I can’t wait to see how exquisite they look next year.
We’ve also stepped back as a city and looked at the 22 beautification sites we already oversee to figure out where we can place pollinator gardens. Just last week, we planted four beds outside of Warner Robin’s first homeless shelter. 90% of these are native plants, and we’re working to do the same for our local parks. This month will be the first time I go out and assess each one to see where we can place the plants. We have the first drawing done up, and we’ll replicate that accordingly at each park with the appropriate selections for each area. Everyone who visits will be able to see pollinators up close, and there will also be an educational component so they can learn more about what we’re doing.
Part of 11 total acres of wildflower medians in Warner Robins
What are some of your other favorite projects or initiatives?
Keeping in line with the topic of pollinators, one of my favorite projects to date has been rearing butterflies and sharing that journey on Facebook. We raised 40 painted lady caterpillars and 20 monarch caterpillars, and we were able to release them at one of my other favorite projects, our native plant education center. We manage this in collaboration with Georgia Military College, and in addition to raising native plants and selling them to our community at affordable prices, we use it to host educational demonstrations throughout the year.
We also recently wrapped up a recycling project funded by a BRACE grant. As a city, we offered paint recycling for the first time ever, along with electronics recycling and a community shred day. In about two and a half hours, we collected 7,293 pounds of paint, and promptly got calls the following Monday asking us when we’d be doing it again. I really love bringing firsts to the city! Our community dumpster days have also become a staple. We’re 20 miles from the closest landfill, and it’s not feasible for many of our citizens to travel that far to drop off bulk waste. It helps us curb illegal dumping in the area, and we recycle whatever we can.
What does your affiliate look forward to in the future? What further impact do you hope to see?
Another passion of mine is increasing Warner Robin’s tree canopy. We recently received a grant from the Georgia Forestry Commission which will help us map that out, protect what we already have, and designate plantable areas. I’m also working on a landscaping specification manual, because in the past, our city has not had a landscaping ordinance. Developers were allowed to clearcut land and leave only five percent greenspace behind! With the support of our current administration, I’m looking forward to changing that narrative so Warner Robins can forever be known as a green community where trees and native plants thrive. Many areas will have to be redone, but we’re going to continue to apply for funding to help with that. We’ve done several tree giveaways already, and I’ve also spent quite a bit of time working to become an ISA-certified arborist. I’ll officially test this summer, and the ability to provide that knowledge and expertise will be awesome. We’ve never had an arborist on staff before. Again, I just love finding new resources for our city—it’s high time that we’ve made these changes, and people are ready for them.
Any advice for people looking to make their communities cleaner, greener, or more beautiful?
Making your community cleaner, greener, and more beautiful starts with you! You have to be the change you want to see. I say that and hashtag that all the time, but it’s true—that’s your first step, and then you have to find as many people as possible who share your vision. If they don’t exist already, make them see it through educational demonstrations. You have to be that chime that never stops. It’s easier said than done, but having the support of local government, civic organizations, and community partners is essential. Finding sponsors is also key, whether they provide money, food, supplies, or even volunteer hours. That last one is actually my favorite kind of sponsorship—it keeps programs successful year after year, which means residents will come to expect them. Lastly, market what you’re doing as much as possible. I learned during my first year that many people weren’t aware of Keep Warner Robins Beautiful. We didn’t have a social media presence before I started in the role, and although we still rely on print, TV, and radio for publicity, it’s also important to adapt. Go where your volunteer base is, whether that’s Facebook, Instagram, or Tik Tok. You can reach so many more people that way. Just remember that alone we can do a little, but together we can do so much.