Drivers, there is a way to help Monarchs and other butterflies and insects with your car. Well, okay, not exactly your car but with your license plate.
You can now purchase a lovely Pollinator Plate from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles for $25 and after the first 1,000 sold, $15 of the $25 fee is transferred to the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and is used to support its Pollinator Habitat Program. If you don’t live in Virginia you can still buy a souvenir plate and contribute that way.
What is the Pollinator Habitat Program? One example of what VDOT is doing through the program is the planting last fall of more than 8,000 pollinator plants at the Dale City rest area off I-95 north to create a Monarch waystation. Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy volunteers teamed up with VDOT, Dominion Power, the Native Plant Society and Valley Land for this project, which covered a 15,000-square foot meadow as well as two smaller plantings.
VDOT is working on other waystations elsewhere in the commonwealth of Virginia – and that’s what the revenue from these plates supports.
You can order the license plates and souvenir plates here and can even personalize them. The site also suggests you contact your tax advisor because part of the price might be tax deductible!
