This activity was organized in partnership with the City of Burnaby
and in collaboration with the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers Society
Thank you to all of the community members who joined us!
Adrian, Aish, Ali, Aman, Ana, Anastasia, Anna, Ari, Arlo, Armaan, Artemis, Athena, Cleo, Connor, Daeyeon, Dave, Drew, Eli, Eugene, Evan, Gary, Jan, Jimmy, Cian, Jayden, Jess, Joshua, Katherine, Kushal, Lenita, Martina, Melody, Nobu, Oliver, Owain, Ping, Rob, Ryoko, Sandy, Steve, Supna, Suzie, Tomoki, Tony, Trevor, Yumi, & Joan!
Community Impacts
48 community members were engaged, contributing 143.5 hrs to environmental action!
- 48% visited Ron McLean Park for the first time
- 13% removed invasive plants for the first time
27 participants completed a survey, and results showed:
- 100% felt inspired to take future environmental action
- 96% felt a sense of belonging & connection to others
- 100% felt their well-being improved
- 93% said time spent in nature contributed
- 59% said meeting people contributed
- 81% said helping the environment contributed
- 81% said being physically active contributed
- 100% increased their understanding of environmental issues
- 96% learned new things (e.g. impacts of invasive species)
- 96% developed new skills (e.g. teamwork & hands-on stewardship action)
Change starts with people. To have a lasting environmental impact, people need to feel connected, capable and empowered to take action.
Our activities are designed to increase:
- Community resilience & social connection
- Well-being through time in nature
- Participation in climate & environmental action
- Awareness of environmental issues
- Connection to local places & natural areas
- A culture of volunteerism & civic engagement
Environmental Impacts
- 16 cubic metres of invasive Himalayan blackberry, English ivy, English holly, and Small balsam (Small touch-me-not) were removed (equivalent to the volume of 100 bathtubs!)
- 250 square metres of habitat was revitalized!
Highlights
- Community members joined us from across the Lower Mainland including from Burnaby itself, Vancouver, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Delta, & Langley!
- Environmental & social issues don’t have borders. By bringing together people from across the region, participants see others showing up to care for places beyond their own neighbourhoods. This reminds us that we share responsibility for the people & places around us, and that we’re all in this together.
- This activity was part of the Burnaby Environment Week celebrations! Check out our June 6th Environment Week activity as well!
- Drew tackled 7 Holly Trees and continued his work to prevent the regrowth of English Laurel that he cut back last year!
- Anastasia was proud of the Big Leaf Maple trees she helped protect last year and spent some time today continuing to steward these baby trees!
- We removed some litter from the woods as well including Nobu who removed a big metal wire!
- We had some very young participants like Cian who helped remove Small Balsam!
- Several community members passing by were interested in our work and thanked us for our stewardship efforts!
- We saw a Red-tailed Hawk being chased away from nests by American Crows! Did you know the noise often used for Eagles in movies & TV is actually the call of a Red-tailed Hawk? Check out the different calls here!
- Many delicious snacks were enjoyed during our snack break, including a fresh veggie tray, blueberries, raspberry creamcheese pastry bites, brownies, a spicy fava bean mix, strawberry biscoff bites, yogurt passionfruit gummies, healthy granola bars, juice boxes, Bublys, & more!
- Special thank you to:
- Jan for helping setup & pack up our snack break!
- Armaan, Supna, Aman & Ari, Steve & Eli, Artemis, Cleo, Joshua & Nobu, and Ali for helping to cut down the Holly trees we removed from the forest so they could fit in our bins!
- Connor, Jan, Gary, Suzie, & Joshua for helping pack up at the end of our day!
- Athena, a regular volunteer who made wonderful homemade soaps as gifts for Green Teams staff!
- People of all ages, backgrounds, abilities and experience levels came out including families, students, working professionals, retirees, first timers, returning LMGTers and newcomers!
- We’ve been working at Ron McLean Park since 2019! Check out past activities below:
What Community Members Said
16 participants shared what this activity meant to them:
Video of Ping, speaking about getting to join an invasive plant removal for the first time and having a great time learning lots about them!
Community Investment Partner
Delivered in partnership with the City of Burnaby, our Community Investment Partner.
Green Teams of Canada and the City of Burnaby are working together to achieve our shared environmental and community objectives.
The City provides ecological direction, while we bring expertise in community engagement – mobilizing people to take meaningful environmental action and inspiring future stewardship.
This partnership includes financial investment from the City to build connection, improve well-being, and create lasting environmental and community impact.
Special thanks to City staff Hafsa for their valued contributions in bringing this activity to life.
This was 1st of 8 activities we’re organizing together this year.
Collaborator
THANK YOU to Joan and the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers for sharing their time, passion, and knowledge and working alongside us for this activity!
The Byrne Creek Streamkeepers have been active for 27 years. Their volunteers monitor the health of this urban stream and conduct streamkeeping activities. They lead educational tours for kids and adults, promote healthy watersheds at community events, and remove invasive plant species.
Join the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers Facebook Group to help care for the Byrne Creek watershed or learn more on their website!
This group is in need of people who are eager to lead and organize others! Get involved to help them continue their important work!
In-Kind Support
Thank you to the following businesses for providing in-kind to support this activity:
- Lush for providing their bath bombs & soaps prioritizing fresh ingredients, minimal packaging & no animal testing
- OLA Bamboo for providing their made-in-Canada reusable bamboo cutlery to reduce plastic waste
- Gathering Place for providing their fair-trade, organic spices sourced from sustainable farms in Canada & around the world.
When socially and environmentally conscious businesses provide in-kind rewards for our community members, it helps us encourage local and responsible consumption beyond our activities.
Businesses can also further enable us to run high-quality, safe and impactful activities by providing gift cards, refreshments, tools, gloves, and other supplies.
If you’re interested in contributing in-kind or have ideas for potential partnerships, please contact Ashton Kerr.
Staff Who Made This Activity Possible
Our dedicated staff are passionate about community engagement and environmental action. Their work includes extensive outreach, activity logistics, social media, reporting on impacts, partnership building and MUCH more!
This activity was run by Max Muehlen, our Lower Mainland Green Team’s Program Manager with support from Ashton Kerr, the Acting Partnerships & Programs Director
We Are All In This TOGETHER! The Future Depends on Us
The Lower Mainland Green Team is a program of the charity Green Teams of Canada, engaging communities in hands-on environmental action since 2011.
We bring people together to improve well-being and inspire environmental stewardship. Through activities like invasive plant removal, native species planting, and litter clean-ups, participants take practical action and see the impact they can make.
What sets us apart is our focus on people. Our activities are inclusive and accessible to all ages, abilities and experience levels, especially those new to environmental action. Many join for the first time, deepen their understanding of environmental issues and leave feeling capable and motivated to take future action.
We also strengthen and support the broader stewardship network by working with governmental agencies, non-profits, land trusts, volunteer-led groups, schools, and businesses, bringing new people into existing efforts and expanding their reach. Many participants go on to deepen their involvement, take on leadership roles, or contribute to other initiatives.
We believe lasting environmental change starts with people. By creating meaningful opportunities for people to take part, we help build more connected, resilient communities.
We can all make a difference!