Deer Lake Park (Burnaby Village Museum), Burnaby – September 25, 2022
Highlights
- 40 community members of all ages, backgrounds and experience levels joined us and contributed 125 hours total
- Thank you so much for your hard work and making this day awesome: Sue, Jeff, Naghmeh, Noemi, Jan, Stuart, Ryoko, Gary, Liza, Kenta, Suzie, Kevin, Tomoki, Yvonne, Victoria, Blair, Jamie, Hayden, Sheldon, Hong, Francis, Marco, Durand, Issa, Carman, Momo, Aaron, Angel, Carrie, Michelle, Linden, Tanner, Maddie, Ebru, Cahit, Hirdesh, Royem, Zerya, Roza, and Cheryl!
- Our Green Team brought together people from Burnaby, Vancouver, Coquitlam and North Vancouver!
- 8.5 cubic metres of invasive English ivy, Himalayan blackberry, Morning glory, English holly and Lamium was removed (equivalent to the volume of about 53 bathtubs), be sure to check out the before and after photos at the bottom of the page!
- An area of 356 metres squared had invasive plants removed from it and was revitalized thanks to the hard work of our Green Team
- 14 participants visited Deer Lake Park (where the Burnaby Village Museum is located) for the first time
- 27 participants removed invasive plants for the first time
- This activity ran in celebration of BC and World Rivers Day and occurred alongside many other festivities at the Burnaby Village Museum!
- We ran another activity this weekend celebrating World Rivers Day with the City of Burnaby on Saturday September 24, 2022, click here to read the summary of this activity!
- This activity was featured on Global News: CLICK HERE and go to 15:56 to watch the video!
On Sunday September 25, 2022 the Lower Mainland Green Team and the City of Burnaby partnered up to engage community members in an invasive plant removal at the Burnaby Village Museum (located in Deer Lake Park) in Burnaby. This activity took place in celebration of World Rivers Day with the City of Burnaby!
40 incredible community members joined us to remove invasive plants and take care of an urban stream habitat on World Rivers Day 2022. This family-friendly activity engaged participants all ages and brought together people of various backgrounds and experience levels. Working together as a community, an entire bin was packed full of invasive plants to create space for native plants to grow and thrive. The before and after photos at the bottom of this page show the amazing work accomplished! Taking place in the heart of City of Burnaby’s World Rivers Day celebrations at the Burnaby Village Museum, passersby watched and cheered on our work while learning about different ways they could protect our waterways.
This natural area wasn’t the only one to benefit from our efforts, as everyone had a great time and enjoyed the opportunity to work together in this beautiful outdoor setting. New friends were made, new skills were gained and everyone was able to experience the benefits of being in nature including reduced levels of stress and anxiety, and improved moody, memory, focus and mental clarity. Not to mention the great physical exercise everyone got while restoring the area! 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!
Global News showed up and highlighted the amazing work of our team on the Global BC News Hour at 6 on September 25, 2022!
Fresh cut watermelon, vegan brownies, veggies and dip, juice, chips, trail mix and other yummy snacks were enjoyed by all during our break!
Our community members took home a thank you 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, Sleepy Lotion and Sparkle Toothpaste Tablets from LUSH, and Tealight Candles from Honey Candles! 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!
Rivers Day
The very first BC Rivers Day was celebrated in 1980 and has been an annual celebration of our waterways on the 4th Sunday of September ever since. Started by Burnaby local and internationally renowned river conservationist, Mark Angelo, this celebration hit the international stage as World Rivers Day in 2005.
Our waterways and freshwater ecosystems are extremely important, yet are among the most at risk ecosystems on the planet. Threatened by urbanization, pollution, industrial development, invasive species, damming, excessive water extraction and climate change, now more than ever we need to raise awareness about the importance of our waterways and take action to protect them.
Rivers have been a part of all of our lives in one way or another, whether it be through recreation such as kayaking, canoeing or rafting, or a source of food and water. It is up to each and every one of us to do our part to support our rivers and there are many ways you can do so:
- Learn about your local river, the wildlife and plants that live in or around it, its history and how it benefits your community. The first step to taking care of our rivers is understanding why we need to take care of them!
- Don’t litter and clean up items that do not belong in our waterways or parks, even if you weren’t the one who left it.
- Reduce pollution and unwanted substances from entering our waterways or going down stormwater drains, which ultimately lead to our rivers. This includes chemicals and soaps such as those used to wash your car or toilet. Opt for products that are natural whenever possible!
- Avoid the spread of aquatic invasive species by cleaning, draining and drying all boats and equipment.
- Join a local stewardship or streamkeeper group like us and other Burnaby Waterways & Streamkeeper Groups! These groups need your help and are very rewarding to be a part of!
This activity was led by the Lower Mainland Green Team‘s Program Manager, Ashton Kerr, and Program Coordinator, Megan Walker. Megan has been hired as part of Green Teams of Canada‘s Youth Leadership Program and are gaining hands-on experience organizing and leading communities, and also helping strengthen and build our organization!
What Volunteers Said
“I learned how to cooperate with other people to achieve our goal, and I learned some invasive plant types, so people will increase their awareness to invasive plants.”
– Jamie
“It was a great way to spend Rivers Day, and a great location to contribute to our community. The snacks were great today! 🙂“
– Blair
“It was very rewarding. Fun to work and meet different people. The kids really enjoyed it as well and they learnt a lot about invasive plants and nature. It was well run, the organizers were available. Deeply impacting!!“
– Michelle
“I feel this program enhances our community’s biodiversity“
– Carman
“I am very happy that I can make my contribution to protect and beautify the environment. I felt you and your team did a very good job, I will join you again. Looking back after working and seeing that the place we used to clean was very good, I’m proud of our work“
– Hong
“I enjoyed about getting close to the wildlife and the snacks they provided. I felt this program was pretty helpful on clearing the invasive plants.“
– Sheldon
“There was a lot of positive things.“
– Hayden
Thank You!
A big thank you to Rushi Gadoya and Mark Sloat at the City of Burnaby for partnering with our charity, Green Teams of Canada, and providing the funding and direction to make this activity possible!
This activity was part of the City of Burnaby’s World Rivers Day celebrations. We were thrilled to be part of this day that focuses on celebrating and learning about our local waterways and what we can do to help protect these important environments!
Before and After Photos
(click images to make them bigger)
Above set of before and after photos contributed by Stuart, who also cleared this area!
