If you visited the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota on Earth Day, you may have noticed a few new little friends. In fact, over 70,000 of them.

To celebrate Earth Day and to form a natural pesticide to protect the plants and flowers displayed in the mall, 72,000 lady bugs were released inside the mall.

Elementary school classes were on hand to witness the release of the bugs and to take a lesson from Mother Earth.

The Mall of America released the 72,000 ladybugs as part of a larger campaign to remain “green.” The mall boasts that over 60 percent of their waste is recycled, averaging over 32,000 tons of trash every year.

The Mall of America displays over 30,000 live plants and over 400 trees.

Source: KARE 11 contributed to this report

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