After tripling its number of events in Pitt Meadows in 2023, the Lower Mainland Green Team hopes to continue to expand its presence in the community in 2024.
Ashton Kerr, Lower Mainland Green Team program manager, presented to Pitt Meadows city council at the Jan. 9 meeting, detailing their events within the city and the importance of the work they do.
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The group ran three environmental events in Pitt Meadows in 2023, which Kerr said was a major increase from the single event they did the year prior.
A total of 94 people participated in these cleanup events, with more than a third of them doing these types of events for the first time, according to Kerr.
“We engaged families with young children, and we also engaged a lot of newcomers, like students, retirees, and working professionals,” said Kerr. “It’s a really wonderful opportunity to see everyone come together to work towards a common goal.”
Activities took place at Hoffmann Park, the Pitt Meadows Community Garden, and the Rose Grabenhorst Garden, with nearly 700 square metres of greenspace revitalized through the removal of invasive plants.
“That’s roughly two-and-a-half tennis courts,” said Kerr.
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With continued funding from the city of Pitt Meadows, the Lower Mainland Green Team hopes to continue its strong presence in the community through 2024.
“The City of Pitt Meadows is demonstrating leadership and commitment to healthy communities and environments through their investment in our partnership,” explained Kerr.
“By providing the financial support and direction for the community engagement services Green Teams of Canada provides, the city is better positioning itself, us, and others to create lasting change.”
As far as what they have planned for this year, Kerr said that the demand to keep up its environmental efforts throughout the city has never been higher.
“It’s sounding like we’re going to be running at least another three activities,” she said. “Maybe more, but it depends on the funding that’s available.”
“It has been a pleasure to work with the City of Pitt Meadows to date and we look forward to continuing to do so in 2024 and beyond, as well as see other municipalities such as the City of Maple Ridge follow suit.”