The West Orange Open Space & Environmental Commissions have launched the quick response codes.
QR codes have been added as a new feature to the Pollinator Garden located in West Orange, New Jersey. The quick response barcodes were included as a resource to help visitors to inform themselves about the many components of the garden.
The barcodes are meant to be used as educational tools for visitors who would like to learn more.
The QR codes will be officially launched on July 17 at The Rock, which is located at 577 Mt. Pleasant Avenue in West Orange. The West Orange Open Space Commission and members of the West Orange Environmental Commission will be gathering at 10:00 am for the official launch of the Pollinator Garden’s barcode feature.
This type of strategy is being employed by a growing number of community and tourist attractions and locations. Many parks and sites across the country have been working quick response codes into their signage to help provide a larger amount of information to visitors than would be possible on signage.
The Pollinator Garden QR codes can help visitors to learn more about plants and pollinators.
The use of smartphone friendly barcodes has taken off in popularity since the start of the pandemic. While the barcodes have been around for years, they had remained relatively obscure in their use. They could be found in the occasional ad or flyer, but scan rates were low. However, as the pandemic required far more contact-free interactions, businesses hopped onto the use of these easy to generate and highly affordable barcodes, and consumers were quick to scan them.
The Pollinator Garden came about with the funding in a 2019 PSEG Municipal Sustainable Jersey Grant Award. The design and construction of the garden was the result of the hard work of volunteers from a number of different local West Orange organizations. Among them included the WO Open Space Commission, WO Environmental Commission, and Liberty Middle School students and science teachers.
The next step of the Pollinator Garden was to implement educational QR codes, though their rollout was delayed by the pandemic. The barcodes will offer information about the plants and pollinators in the garden, in addition to lesson plans for teachers and activities for students.
