Thank you to everyone who participated in this invasive blackberry removal to celebrate Earth Week!
Allison, Amelia, Andrea, Artemis, Balian, Bernice, Heidi, Cedric, Chris, Connor, Cristian, Dakota, Darius, Gary, Harrison, Ibrahim, Jan, Janet, Jinhe John, Joseph, Junya, Keefer, Harbour, Kurtis, Lena. Liz, Margo, Maya, Millicent, Natalie, Rizwan, Robert, Sadi, Sarah, Sebastian W., Sebastián M., Suzie, Tamás, & William!
Community Impacts
40 community members were engaged, contributing 122.75hrs to revitalize local habitat!
- 63% visited King George Park for the first time
- 48% removed invasive plants for the first time
29 participants completed a survey. Among respondents:
- 93% felt inspired to take future actions to help the environment
- 86% felt a sense of belonging and connection to others
- 90% experienced a positive boost in their well-being (89% from feeling like they helped the environment, 79% from feeling proud of what they did today)
- 97% increased their understanding of environmental issues
- 90% learned new things & developed skills
Environmental Impacts
- 11 cubic metres (70 bathtubs!) of invasive Himalayan Blackberry was removed!
- 54 pounds of litter removed!
- 250 square metres of habitat revitalized!
Highlights
- This activity celebrated Earth Week as part of the City of Richmond’s Earth Week Celebrations! Check out the rest of Richmond’s Earth Week activities here!
- We also celebrated Earth Week 2025 here at King George Park and continued our efforts in September to keep stewarding this space, read about those activities below!
- We learned about Morning Glory (also known as Bindweed) and English Ivy as other invasive plants here, while learning the difference between the invasive blackberry and the native Salmonberry we were creating space for here!
- The salmonberry was already beginning to grow in the area we cleared last year as native species taking this space back!
- Our activities have built on the efforts of local steward Frank who has been working hard to remove invasive blackberry and pick up litter in King George Park!
- All ages, backgrounds, abilities, & experience levels came out including families, students, working professionals, lots of first timers, & some legendary returning LMGTers!
- We saw a beautiful Downy Woodpecker pecking away at a nearby tree!
- Allison is an early childhood educator who will be sharing her experience with kids as a great highlight of what is done to celebrate Earth Week!
- Junya returned to King George Park after joining our 2025 Earth Week activity here as his first ever Green Teams activity. He has since joined many of our activities and was excited to return to where it all started while reflecting on how much he learned about the environment, invasive plants, & outdoor leadership!
- We were joined by a group from For Our Kids Richmond who are working to bring local youth out to connect with nature & steward local spaces!
- We also removed some trash we found in the bushes including a badminton racket, beer bottles, bricks, an unused diaper, plastic pieces, and more!
- A huge thank you to Chris who very generously donated youth & adult safety glasses to help keep our participants safe! He also reflected on how the LMGT activities he’s been to has allowed him to explore one green space after another that he hadn’t know about or had the chance to visit before!
- Thanks to Nolan with the City of Richmond who came out to thank our volunteers in-person on behalf of the city!
- Sebastian found a rock that looked identical to a potato in the blackberry roots!
- Our youngest participant was Harbour who was just a year old!
- Thanks to Balian & Will who arrived early, helped with setup, picked up some litter, and helped pack up at the end of the day, all amazing contributions!
- A shoutout as well to Jan, Gary, Suzie, & Connor who all helped with the pack up of our gear at the end of the day!
What Community Members Said
Video of Darius, speaking about coming out with his kids to connect with nature, take care of our environment, & have some fun!
Video of Andrea, talking about connecting with several of these activities and having a great time!
Video of Tamás, talking about his positive experience, the importance of this work in community, hoping to support these activities on city council, and our tasty snacks!
Community Investment Partner
Thank you to the City of Richmond for being a Community Investment Partner and providing the financial support and direction to make this Earth Week activity possible.
Together we are creating opportunities for community members to come together, connect with each other and nature, and take care of the environment!
We will be back at King George Park on Sat. May 23rd from 9:45am to 1pm to continue our impact together, click here to find out more information and sign-up!
In-Kind Support
A big thank you to our in-kind supporters!
Lush provided their fantastic shower gels, body conditioner, and bath bombs with natural ingredients, sustainable packaging, and made in Canada! Our participants were really happy to take these gifts home!
If you’re interested in contributing in-kind or have ideas for potential partnerships, please contact Ashton Kerr. Your support makes a difference!
Why We Do This Work
The Lower Mainland Green Team is a program of the charity Green Teams of Canada.
We believe in the transformative power of hands-on environmental activities to empower individuals and strengthen communities.
Through initiatives like invasive plant removals, tree plantings, litter clean-ups and more, we not only foster connections among participants but also deepen their relationship with nature. Spending time outdoors has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety while enhancing mood, focus, and overall mental and physical health.
Our activities are designed to be inclusive, welcoming individuals of all backgrounds, ages, abilities, and skill levels.
What sets us apart is we attract a wide mix of young community members who may not otherwise spend time outside, igniting their passion for nature and environmental care.
We are committed to instilling an environmental ethic that leads to lasting behaviour change. We aim to create a sense of belonging and connection to place, encouraging participants to recognize their ability to make a meaningful impact.
Together, we can all make a difference. Join us as we build a brighter, greener future for everyone!
Support Our Charity this Earth Month!
This Earth Month, one powerful action you can take is to make a donation to help make these community activities possible!
GTC Staff Who Made This Activity Happen!
Our staff work hard to run high-quality community activities. Outreach, activity logistics, social media, reporting on impacts, partnership building and more – they do it all!
Max Muehlen, our Lower Mainland Green Team’s Program Manager, and Simryn Dhensaw, our Lower Mainland Green Team Program Assistant, led this activity together!
Ashton Kerr, the Lower Mainland Green Team’s Partnerships Manager, supported this activity behind the scenes!