Central Park, Burnaby – June 11, 2022

Highlights

• 54 community members participated and contributed 146 hours total
  • Thank you so much for your hard work and for making this an incredible day: Asuka, Ayane, Suzie, Émilie, Hannah, Josh, Rob, Mark, Andy, Ayana, Brian, Joshua, Kyle, Owen, Tony, Yannes, Nathan, Nicholas, Mark, Sandy, Gabrielle, Angela, Alexandra, Alisha, Maria, Peter, Hui Chong, Amaan, Layane, Marlene, Noah, Ryan, Katarina, Shuta, Harry, Salik, Tin Yau (Tiann), Amos, Hoi Ning (Helin), Ping, Tatjana, Sylvie, Giulia, Change, Romina, Aryan, Larry, Christina, Maimona Gabriel, Cbris, Gabriel Jr., Augustan, Caesar and Tina!
• 9 cubic metres of invasive Himalayan blackberry, Common periwinkle, English ivy and English holly was removed (equivalent to the volume of about 56 bathtubs), including SO MANY stubborn roots which take more time to remove, but take up less volume. Be sure to check out the before and after photos at the bottom of the page!
• An area of 395 metres squared had invasive plants removed from it and was revitalized thanks to the hard work of our Green Team
• 28 participants visited Central Park for the first time
• 28 participants removed invasive plants for the first time
• This activity ran in celebration of Burnaby Environment Week and built on previous restoration work done in the area. We ran another activity for Environment Week on Sunday June 5, click here to read the summary of this activity!

On Saturday June 11, 2022 the Lower Mainland Green Team, the Rotary Club of Burnaby and the City of Burnaby joined forces to engage community members in an invasive plant removal at Central Park in Burnaby. This activity took place in celebration of Burnaby Environment Week!

We had 54 incredible community members of all ages, backgrounds, abilities and experience levels join us at this activity that aimed to foster deeper connections to community and nature as well as improve habitat health in this local park. Everyone in attendance got to experience how empowering it is to come together as a group of committed people to achieve a common goal – we can accomplish anything when we work as a team!

Through this experience we are helping the community experience the benefits to being in nature with a welcoming group of people. Spending time in nature has been found to reduce levels of stress and anxiety, improve mood, memory and focus and also encourages getting physical exercise out in the fresh air! The next time you need a break, head out for a walk to your local green space/park to feel refreshed! Additionally, by providing experiences for people to be in nature safely together, we are helping participants cultivate a curiosity and deeper respect for nature, which helps instil responsible environmental behaviour that extends beyond our activities!

Burnaby Environment Week coincides with Canadian Environment Week. The purpose of this week long celebration is to raise awareness, celebrate environmental action and inspire positive change. From the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food the eat, and the places we live and play in, the environment takes care of us and we have a responsibility to reciprocate and take care of the environment back. Spend some time considering the impacts that we have on the environment from the things we do, places we go and things we buy. Becoming more aware of our impact is the first step and no action is too small to make a difference, especially when many people are doing them!

Lyda, the founder of our Green Team and the Executive Director of our charity, baked yummy invasive ivy shaped cookies to get everyone excited about removing invasive plants!

We found and removed a number of items that don’t belong in our ecosystems, including an old muffler, lots of bottles and cans and other miscellaneous litter.

Many new friends were made! Salik, Hannah, Émilie, Suzie, Mark, Amos and Tina went out for lunch after our activity – yum!

Our community members took home reusable tote bags from the City of Burnaby and a gift from one of our in-kind supporters including Replaceable Head Bamboo Toothbrushes from life UNpacked, Laundry Detergent Strips from Tru Earth, Coconut Lip Balm from Green Beaver, Biodegradable Dog Poop Bags from EarthRated, Swedish Dish Cloths from Swedethings, Fair Trade and Organic Chocolate from Camino, Tealight Candles from Honey Candles, and West Coast Seeds! If you have any suggestions for sustainable/eco-friendly rewards, know of or own a business who would like to provide in-kind to our Green Team, please contact Ashton Kerr, Program Manager, at ashton@greenteamscanada.ca!

What Volunteers Said

“I enjoyed helping the environment and learning how to remove invasive plants.”

– Kyle

“I enjoyed quality time with my sister doing something productive and impactful for our community. I also had the pleasure of meeting kind people from my community, and I liked that they were willing to be inclusive and respectful of everyone. Our volunteer supervisors were also great at teaching and explaining as well, and their instructions were very easy to follow.

The impact of this program is to protect our environment and the natural state our area is in. It can also help us create strong bonds with people in our community, and lets us build our skills of teamwork.”

– Amaan

“Loved the team work spirit throughout the event. Friendly atmosphere. The impact of this program is to create awareness of our environment and to give back to community as well as making new friends working with a common goal together.“

– Tony

“I enjoyed the staff and education opportunity. The impact of this program is community building and environmental awareness. Great work. Looking forward to future events!“

– Josh

“We enjoyed working together, especially after 2 years half isolated life by many. Also we enjoyed the nature, stretched our body and appreciated every progress from our work — got a sense of proudness and achievement.

Not only we learnt how to care and love the nature that we are living in, but also it formed a sense of community, that people come from different places are connected together through this activity.“

Organizers and volunteers are all very passionate, or through the work become more appreciative of nature we worked on — It’s a great day!”

– Tina

“The impact of this program is to find solutions to environmental problems. This program helps to improve the economy by removing invasive species that harm human activities. By removing invasive species, the biodiversity of the site is improved, which is very important for the health of the environment. This program also allows people to meet and unite around a topic that is important to them. It allows to create friendships”

– Émilie

“I enjoyed the feeling of contributing to nature and the environment and talking to new people. The impact of this program is to make the environment and society better directly, and also let people be aware of their role and responsibility for the earth.”

– Asuka

“I enjoyed meeting new people and the sense of community. The snacks and gifts at the end were appreciated”

– Marlene

Thank You!

A big thank you to the Rotary Club of Burnaby for the financial support to make this activity possible. Thank you also to Ryan, Peter, Larry and Maimona Gabriel from the Rotary Club for joining us for the amazing day!

Thank you also to Rushi Gadoya and Mark Sloat at the City of Burnaby for partnering with our charity, Green Teams of Canada, and providing the direction to make this activity possible.

This activity was part of Burnaby Environment Week! We were thrilled to be part of so many awesome events happening across the City focused on raising environmental awareness and highlighting what we can do to reduce our impact and care for the Earth.

Before and After Photos

(click images to make them bigger)