Local tree plantings, garbage pickups mark Earth Day

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Shovel-toting volunteers made quick work of planting 475 trees in Jacob’s Woods Park in St. George on Saturday. 

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The event was supposed to last three hours but so many people showed up, the job was done in less than half the time and volunteers were packing up and eating hot dogs supplied by the St. George Lions Club by shortly after 11 a.m.  

“I guess we needed more trees,” said Chuck Beach of the Brant Tree Coalition and member of the Brant Waterways Foundation, organizations that partnered for the tree planting, along with the Lions, the Grand River Conservation Authority and the County of Brant. 

Students from the environment and resource management course at Paris District High School were on hand to provide volunteers with a bit of instruction on how to properly plant the saplings. 

Beach said an assortment of native trees, including hickory, white oak, red maple, white cedar, white pine and nannyberry, were planted in Jacob’s Woods, an almost two-kilometre trail used for hiking, birding and snowshoeing. 

Tree planting is not just good for people by helping keep the air clean, it benefits wildlife by creating habitats for birds and animals, said Beach. The Jacob’s Woods area is a source water protection zone and tree planting helps keep the land healthy. 

David Lounsbury was among the many volunteers who brought their children out Saturday to help.

“Earth Day is coming up and we like nature,” he said. “It’s time to start planting trees to give back what’s been taken away. We’ve lost a lot of them.” 

The Brant Tree Coalition is honouring Earth Day – celebrated around the world on April 22 – with the 11th annual Brantford Community Tree Plant in Brier Park. The coalition has a goal of planting 1,000 native trees in the park, located on Winding Way in Brantford. Volunteers are asked to dress for the weather and bring a reusable water bottle, boots, shovels and gloves. 

Earth Day was also celebrated in City of Brantford with about 2,300 residents signed up for the third annual Let’s Clean Our City event, happening Sunday and Monday. 

Participating individuals, groups and neighbourhood association members pick their own cleanup location and get to work picking up trash using their own supplies or kits supplied by the city. 

The collected litter can be left at the curbside for regular garbage collection or dropped off at a disposal location set up by the city. 

Rebecca Szczepanowski, the city’s climate change officer, said the hope is to collect more than 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of trash.  

Szczepanowski said a lot of volunteers are focused on cleaning up city parks and others are removing trash from bus stops along major routes.  

Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis and Brantford-Brant MP Larry Brock helped out on Sunday morning by collecting garbage and tossed cigarette butts along the SC Johnson trail behind the Brantford Armoury.  

“A common complaint is about the amount of litter around the city,” said Davis. “It’s difficult for city staff to keep up. Volunteers love this kind of activity and we get a cleaner city. It’s a win-win-win.”