TAMPA — A Tampa woman is devoting her time and energy into teaching others about the health of our environment, in the hope of saving it.

At her Little Red Wagon native nursery, home of the Tampa Bay Butterfly Foundation, we met president and CEO Anita Camacho and quickly learned that she is all about the land we farm, the air we breathe, the food we eat.

“A lot of conservation around the Bay area,” she said in describing the mission. "Predominately we focus on butterflies but other wildlife benefits as a result of our plantings. We do a lot of plantings, we do a lot of education and outreach and also with universities and studies.”

A tour of the education exhibit is a must as you gain more understanding of the important role butterflies and other insects as well as native plants contribute to the environment.

Any profits from the Little Red Wagon shop and the conservatory go to the non-profit foundation. It works with schools, park and recreation, the Florida Aquarium, and Florida Fish and Wildlife to mention a few. Camacho has even been invited to speak to engineers and staff at NASA.

Dedicated to reversing the destruction of butterfly and pollinator habitat, while often feeling like it’s an uphill battle, Camacho says she has cautious optimism.

“I believe we’re getting the word out and I believe that a lot of people are finding this to be a lot of fun, to bring pollinators and wildlife into their landscape and really starting to gravitate towards it,” she said.