York University community members converged at both Glendon (April 12) and Keele (April 13) campuses to plant trees in celebration of Earth Month. The event was organized to help drive positive change by creating a greener campus with restored ecosystems to help mitigate climate change.
The event, sponsored by the UNFCCC’s Youth Climate Report, was held in partnership with Regenesis and York’s Property Management Grounds, Facilities Services with grant funding provided by the City of Toronto.
“In this time of climate change and the biodiversity crisis, we are engaging the York community in Earth Month activities to raise environmental awareness and work on minimizing our footprint,” says Mike Layton, York’s chief sustainability officer. “It’s the perfect opportunity to come together to take action on campus and in our everyday lives, as we continue to work on system level change.”
A total of 214 trees were planted across both campuses, with the addition of a variety of native species such as sugar maples, red maples, black cherry, red oak, dogwood, hackberry, serviceberry, white spruce, white cedar, winterberry and more.
Another opportunity to celebrate Earth Month will take place on April 19 at the Keele Campus when the York community is invited to participate in a 20-minute campus clean-up.
View a photo gallery of the tree planting events below.
Watch the video below to see how York community members are committing to sustainability.