This activity was organized in partnership with the City of White Rock
Thank you to all of the community members who joined us!
Aish, Amit, Aria, Barb F., Barb S., Brownie, Bruce, Candela, Candy, Chloe, Connor, Daryl, Dean, Ella, Ethan, JJ, Maria, Niki, Neil, Parth, Paul, Prachi, Ross, Sahejdeep, Fern, Shilpa, Sienna, Stephen, Tanya, Tatsuya, & Zetta!
Community Impacts
32 community members were engaged, contributing 96.75 hrs to environmental action!
- 53% visited Ruth Johnson Park for the first time
- 34% removed invasive plants for the first time
26 participants completed a survey, and results showed:
- 92% felt inspired to take future environmental action
- 100% felt a sense of belonging & connection to others
- 100% felt their well-being improved
- 100% said time spent in nature contributed
- 88% said meeting people contributed
- 92% said helping the environment contributed
- 65% said being physically active contributed
- 96% increased their understanding of environmental issues
- 92% learned new things (e.g. impacts of invasive species)
- 88% 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
- 4 cubic metres of invasive Small balsam (Small touch-me-not), English Ivy, & English Holly were removed (equivalent to the volume of 25 bathtubs!)
- 225 square metres of habitat were revitalized
Highlights
- Community members joined us from across the Lower Mainland including from White Rock itself, South Surrey, North Surrey, New Westminster, Langley, Delta, Coquitlam, Vancouver, & Rossland!
- 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.
- We removed the Small balsam from an area we planted more than 500 native trees & shrubs in last Fall, helping to steward this area and protect these plants!
- We learned the difference between the Small balsam and Alpine enchanter’s-nightshade, a similar native plant we were creating space for!
- Paul, Tatsuya, & Fern were early and jumped right in to removing the Small balsam at our meeting spot while waiting for the activity to start!
- Several community members passing by recognized the Lower Mainland Green Team and thanked our community members for their hard work!
- Connor, Brownie, & Caldera found and removed some English holly trees from the woods here and we even used a weed wrench to get the roots out of the ground to prevent re-growth!
- Amit found a big patch invasive English Ivy and removed it to help prevent the spread of that here too!
- Fern worked hard to protect a patch of her beloved native Thimbleberry by removing Small balsam & English ivy from around it!
- Thank you to Ross, Candy & Sahejdeep for working hard to help us remove these plants and donating water, a rake, a hoe, buckets, a kneeling pad, & gloves to our team! These are a wonderful contribution to our activity today and in future!
- Many delicious snacks were enjoyed during our snack break including twisted dill pretzels, fruit gummies, pumpkin seeds, brownies, fresh grapes & veggies, healthy granola bars, juice, Bublys, and more!
- Special thank you to:
- Ross & Sahejdeep for helping to set up at the beginning of the activity!
- Zetta who helped set up our snack break!
- Dean, Nikki, Barb, & Connor for helping to pack up at the end of the activity!
- 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 Ruth Johnson Park since 2013! Check out past activities below:
What Community Members Said
26 participants shared what this activity meant to them:
Video of Tanya, speaking about the activity and its benefits for the environment and our physical & mental health!
Video of Paul, speaking about doing something that matters with lots of great like-minded people, food, and friends helping the environment!
Video of Barb, speaking about having a great experience pulling these plants, meeting lots of new people, and doing something positive for the environment!
Community Investment Partner
Delivered in partnership with the City of White Rock, our Community Investment Partner.
Green Teams of Canada and the City of White Rock 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 Andre, Spencer, and Ralph for their valued contributions in bringing this activity to life.
This was 5th of 8 activities we’re organizing together this year.
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
- 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!