We’re helping local gardens thrive by celebrating nature, protecting native plants and planting seeds for the future.
Here are three recent ways our employees and volunteers put down roots nurtured by TEP’s commitment to promote sustainability:
Planting Hope
Volunteers with TEP’s employee green team helped build raised garden beds for the Community Gardens of Tucson.
At the Keeling Community Garden, our volunteers completed two full beds and nearly finished a third during a Saturday morning in April during Earth Month. Their work created space to grow vegetables, fruits, flowers and herbs.
Volunteers were inspired by a meeting hosted by ECOS – Employees Creating Opportunities for Sustainability – in which the executive director of Community Gardens of Tucson spoke.
Volunteer Dolores Pedroza, a TEP Processing Support Specialist, was so inspired by seeing the vegetables growing at the Keeling garden that she and two other employees decided to get their own plots at a community garden.
When Pedroza started gardening in June, the plot already had tepary beans, purslane, dill and carrots. She has since added squash, which is growing well.
“There’s something very rewarding about seeing a plant grow from a seedling into something you can then put on your plate at the end of a growing season,” Pedroza said. “It also helps me to feel in touch with nature and see how amazing it is to grow something from the earth. It’s so simple yet so vital to all life.”
Painting with Purpose
The courtyard at Tucson Medical Center for Women is now brightened with newly painted rocks by TEP employees.
Two of TEP’s employee groups teamed up for an April lunch-hour event for employees to take a break to paint inspirational and colorful rocks in conjunction with Earth Day.
The organizers were from Women in Energy and NATIVE – Native American, Tribal and Indigenous Voices in Energy. Participants heard a brief synopsis about Earth Day from a Native American perspective before the artistic activity.
The rocks were donated to TMC for Women, to bring support and motivation to women experiencing health issues.
Celebrating Nature
TEP’s contributed $15,000 to support programs at Tohono Chul, a garden on the northwest side, including the summer Chillin at the Chul series and Holiday Nights. Our community support comes from company funds, not customers’ rates.
On Sept. 10, our employees spent a morning removing invasive species from the grounds of Tohono Chul to spruce up the space and prevent wildfires.
Employees also volunteer before the holidays to put up stringed lights on cactuses, trees and fences to prepare for Holiday Nights events. Volunteers plan to decorate the gardens for the second season this November.
