Earth Day Tree Planting - April 26 2008

During the Earth Week on Saturday afternoon over forty students and their friends came to plant trees on the flooding grass field at Danby Woods forest at York University. The event was organized by RuSSA of York University, Green Garden Earth Team, Black Creek Project and Environmental Outreach Team. The volunteers who came exceeded the most optimistic expectations and planted over a hundred trees.

The construction of the road along the field brought about constant flooding of the field, soil depletion and disappearance of the plants, which could not withstand such wet soil conditions. Our goal was to extend the little forest and plant such trees and shrubs, which could survive in the wet land and stop flooding of the field. Among the selected plants were elderberry, maples and white cedars.

First of all, the volunteers who came to the event picked up garbage from the field and Danby Woods.

After the site was cleared of garbage, everybody took the shovels into their hands. Some people were working in groups and others by themselves. But we all were helping each other, learning something new or sharing what we knew with enthusiasm. We did not want to plant trees in any patterns. The nature does not create rows and does not measure distances. Everybody was picking a spot randomly a couple of steps from any other tree to plant the selected tree. Some of the groups planted five to eight trees!

Everybody enjoyed the work and the friendly atmosphere. In my opinion, this was because we were doing something real, useful and important. We were planting the little trees and bushes, which were just showing little leaves, but soon will grow tall and beautiful. We were giving a new look and a new life to this flooded field. We were creating great surroundings for the university and future generations of students. We were enjoying a great day outdoors and appreciating the beauty of nature.

This kind of activity was really different from what most of us are used to. Contrary to virtual work and artificial environment such as computers, machinery and books, those trees were alive with their own feelings and their own way to communicate. Once we planted them, they will grow and take care of themselves. They are capable of healing themselves and bringing succeeding generations.

Hopefully, we have not just planted a little park but also started a tradition. By planting more gardens we can make our city greener and nicer. Moreover, we can grow spiritually by learning to plant trees, not to take them down and destroy forests, to be friendly to the environment and nature because we are part of it. We can thus learn to live in peace and harmony with people and with the wildlife. The more we participate in such events, the better we can understand nature, ourselves and each other.

Hope to see you there next time!

Our home is…

Green Garden Earth,

www.GreenGardenEarth.com

View full photo gallery for this event: http://www.greengardenearth.com/2009/05/treeplanting2009/