On Friday May 17th, SolBid joined Rhode Island CRMC, the Salt Ponds Coalition and the Town of Charlestown to help nonprofit Save the Bay in its effort to restore the Quonochontaug (Quonnie) Pond Salt Marsh. Volunteers planted salt marsh grasses at the restoration site where sand from the breachway was placed on the degraded marsh so it could adapt to sea level rise.

Due to climate change, sea level rise is now happening at such an accelerated pace that marshes are becoming permanently flooded, drowning in place before they can naturally respond to the changing conditions. As a result, the Bay is losing increasingly more of these invaluable habitats that are critical to both water quality and biodiversity. In fact, 63 fish species in the Bay use salt marshes as nurseries, and many more fish and shellfish depend on them for living and breeding, and this is only one of the many reasons why salt marshes matter (Save the Bay).

Image: Bobby Willingham planting seagrass at Quonnie.

This event showed a strong community spirit in the fight against climate change, where volunteers from five local organizations came together and successfully planted nearly 7,000 plants. The team at SolBid is making an ecological impact one solar panel at a time, but also loves collaborating with local organizations such as Save the Bay in an effort to help the community and expand its impact.