This activity was organized in partnership with UVic’s Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability
Thank you to all of the community members who joined us!
Adam, Alex, Amy, August, Cecily-Jane, Charles, Chloe, Clayton, Dominic, Ella, Ethan, Francine, Gayatri, Grey, Guoliang(GL), Hamzah, Harrison, Leia, Leslie, Luca, Luciana, Matias, Molly, Muhammad, Narin, Norah, Otone, Patrick, Ray, Ray, Rina, Sota, Stephanie, Vincent, and Yuelin
Community Impacts
35 community members were engaged, contributing 115 hrs to environmental action!
- 26% visited Alumni Chip Trail for the first time
- 26% removed invasive plants for the first time
- 24% were UVic students/staff
23 participants completed a survey, and results showed:
- 91% felt inspired to take future environmental action
- 96% felt a sense of belonging & connection to others
- 96% felt their well-being improved
- 91% said time spent in nature contributed
- 96% said helping the environment contributed
- 96% increased their understanding of environmental issues
- 91% gained practical knowledge (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
- 19 cubic metres of invasive English ivy and English holly were removed (equivalent to the volume of 118 bathtubs!)
- 112 square metres of habitat were revitalized
Highlights
- Community members joined us from across Greater Victoria, including from Victoria itself, Oak Bay, Saanich, Esquimalt, View Royal, Sidney, and Saanichton!
- 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.
- Community member Cecily-Jane captured the spirit of the day through some incredibly creative photos, including a hilarious and iconic shot of Vincent’s beard decorated with flowers!
- Otone and Adam teamed up to create what they proudly called an “ivy bomb,” a giant tangled ball of ivy that kept getting bigger throughout the activity.
- Three moms and their children spent the day with us pulling ivy, exploring the trail, and celebrating Mother’s Day together in nature.
- Many passersby stopped to thank the group throughout the day, including one couple who shared that they attended University of Victoria 23 years ago and were grateful to see the urban forest being cared for by the community.
- Community members spotted many invasive European black slugs throughout the activity and got to learn more about invasive species beyond plants while working along the trail.
- When Sara arrived on site in the morning, three deer were waiting nearby as if they were there to greet the group before the activity began.
- (any other notable unique moments from the activity)
- Many delicious snacks were enjoyed during our snack break, including bananas, grapes, cucumbers, tomatoes, cinnamon rolls, brownies, muffins, white cheddar popcorn, black sesame coconut bites, and fig bars.
- Special thank you to:
- Ray F. for helping with set up
- Molly for helping with snack set up
- Ethan, Molly, Ray, Lea, and Clayton who helped pack up
- Cecily-Jane for all the fun photos
- People of all ages, backgrounds, abilities and experience levels came out including families, students, working professionals, retirees, first timers, returning GVGTers and newcomers!
- We’ve been working at UVic since 2018! Check out past activities below:
What Community Members Said
14 participants shared what this activity meant to them:
Video of Norah, speaking about how fun it is to be outside removing ivy and getting to meet new people!
Video of Gayatri, speaking about connecting and meeting with all different kinds of people!
Community Investment Partner
Delivered in partnership with UVic’s Office of Campus Planning and Sustainability, our Community Investment Partner.
Green Teams of Canada and UVic are working together to achieve our shared environmental and community objectives.
UVic 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 university to build connection, improve well-being, and create lasting environmental and community impact.
Special thanks to UVic staff Claire and Peter for their valued contributions in bringing this activity to life.
This was 10 of 10 activities we’re organizing together for the 2025-2026 school year.
In-Kind Support
Thank you to the following businesses for providing in-kind to support this activity:
- Lush for providing their bath bombs with natural ingredients, sustainable packaging, and made in Canada!
- OLA Bamboo for providing their bamboo cutlery made in Canada. Their mission is to reduce plastic waste by creating these great bamboo-based, eco-friendly alternatives!
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 Sara Schwartz, our Greater Victoria Green Team’s Program Manager.
We Are All In This TOGETHER! The Future Depends on Us
The Greater Victoria Green Team is a program of the charity Green Teams of Canada, engaging communities in hands-on environmental action since 2014.
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!