I propose that it is possible to help recover and restore healthy and sustainable natural, social and economic environments but we must focus on helping to re-establish healthy natural systems in the natural environment which help enable good weather, ozone integrity, clean water, fresh air, birds, bees, butterflies, wildflowers, healthy local produce, lovely lakes and pine or maple forest to camp by, lakes or rivers to swim in, to enjoy fishing in, fireflies in the meadow and turtles in the pond to enjoy with and show to family, but only if we take care of it and also help provide access to and connect others with nature, as well as to consider our impacts on the environment, help nature and encourage decision makers, and political and corporate influencers to take environmental accountability. Consider that in most urban environments it is generally difficult to find a place to sit by the stream, nonetheless sit by a garbageless shoreline and enjoy seeing wild beautiful songbirds in tree boughs, or native turtles basking on logs and see butterflies and bumblebees visit wildflowers – but it is possible, if people help to clean up litter, help provide greater access to parks, natural areas and trails, learn about and take interest in birds, old growth forest, wetlands, where or how animals migrate and natural systems and how to help protect them. Whether you cultivate native plants at home or whether you help pick up litter, or email or lobby politicians and decision makers, or plant trees and native plants at events, or volunteer, or enjoy wildlife photography, or enjoy reporting wildlife sightings to community science efforts, steward a nature reserve, just enjoy wildlife or help nature and the environment around your area there are ways that we all can help nature and the environment. Here’s how I am helping nature locally for Earth Day and Earth Week this year.
Pre-Earth Week Log 2024;
On Saturday, two days ago, I installed two bluebird nest boxes in the open meadow near the forest at the cottage, to help renaturalize the meadow which was once used for tilling and grazing and now has a healthy returning diversity of wildlife including goldfinches, red-tailed hawks as well as bobolinks and bluebirds in the area too, which will hopefully also one day reinhabit the shrubby field of grasslands there.
April 15 2024
Litter removal from local ravine:
60+ trout lilies seen several little yellow and orange flowers in bloom
5lb of garbage removed from the creek and ravine today that flows into the pond where turtles, ducks, dragonflies, songbirds and more wildlife lives – including;
corded earbuds, pop bottles, chocolate bar and chip bag wrappers, plastic shopping bags, takeout condiments, styrofoam packaging, commercial styrofoam waste, aluminum foil, various wires, metal scraps, cigarette packages, cigarette butts
The year is 2024, steep rates of habitat loss, biodiversity loss, water pollution, air quality decline, soil contamination, consumer, construction and industrial waste and damages, severe storms, severe flooding, heat waves, droughts and eutrophication, are occurring in Ontario, and the provincial government proposes to increase the reach and number of highways, which will dramatically increase sprawl, development, pollution, resource extraction, consumerism, emissions and compound existing environmental crises. The amount of existing garbage dump and landfill area is about to run out of space for the existing population in Ontario within less than eight years, and yet the province proposes to increase the amount of sprawl, strip malls and construction sites.
Canada had it’s worst wide-raging wildfire season yet in 2023 and 2024 is forecast to be another unprecedentedly warm year. At less than 11% of it’s lands currently protected as natural areas, Ontario is significantly behind the United Nations Environment Programme International Targets of protecting at least 30 % of lands and 30% of fresh and coastal waters by 2030, a target that Canada has committed towards.
Given that the world is on the increasingly steep side of a downwards pointed environmental tipping point, it is especially important to rewild, renaturalize local environments including urban spaces, near-urban spaces, fields, once-used industrial areas, vacant lots, as well as helping natural systems in places like ravines, streams, shorelines and forests in urban areas by helping to remove litter, help plant native trees and wildflowers if and when you can, help remove invasive weeds (but be sure to check and properly identify invasive and native species), monitor and report wildlife sightings to help and contribute to community science work, report littering, poaching or other environmental damages if you can, be mindful of the impacts you have on the environment and, respectfully, please consider what further steps towards reconciliation with Indigenous communities, who have long-appreciated and worked with Mother Earth, are recommended and are available for you.
April 16 2024
Litter removal: I removed another 12 lbs of litter from my local ravine including from the lower stream area. The refuse littering the ravine was mostly plastic waste and largely household waste including plasticized cordage, plastic bottles, plastic chip bags, plastic garden containers and plastic bags.
I noticed a wren and numerous small wood nesting bees visiting a big old dead stump. I photographed bees pollenating trout lilies and a beautiful mourning cloak butterfly as well as a Cooper’s hawk chasing doves from the canopy above.
April 17 2024
It is important to acknowledge the history of lands and respectfully consider the origins and what happened in the places and lands we live and reside in. For knowledge and also as a way of showing respect, and honouring reconciliation by providing land recognitions in good spirit, good intentions, compassion, moving forward, working together on traditional territories and with respect for the environment on mind.
I am writing this land acknowledgement from Tkaronto today, which in the Haudenosaunee language is the name of a fishing trap. Tkaronto was a “gathering place” for trading, celebration, and knowledge exchange; as it continues to be today. Though let us hope and work for restoration of the natural systems that brought beauty, wonder, joys and tranquility then in Tkaronto, which can bring us beauty and joys again today and tomorrow.
I would like to acknowledge that Toronto or Tkaronto is situated upon traditional Indigenous territories. The territories include the Wendat, Anishinabek Nation, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nations, and the Métis Nation. For example, close to my home, in 1450, what is now known as Eglinton Park, was once the site of a Wendat village.
The treaty that was signed for this particular parcel of land is collectively referred to as the Toronto Purchase and applies to lands east of Brown’s Line to Woodbine Avenue and north towards Newmarket.
April 18 2024
7-8 pounds of litter removed from Moccasin Trail Park lower creek and around the pond’s shore. I have witnessed that there is still tons, years of neglected garbage remaining in the pond’s shoreline wetland there.
Plastic and metal bottle caps, beer cans, plastic bottles, plastic bags, plastic cups, lighters, styrofoam, picnic litter, dog waste bags. There is so much styrofoam and a lot of lighters all around the pond with the creek that flows into the East Don River as well as litter containing aerosol and liquid toxic chemicals such as deodorant spray and whiteout pens, it looked like the wetland area by the pond where the wood ducks were hadn’t been cleaned of litter in years. There are turtles, ducks, fish, dragonflies and even beavers, herons and kingfishers that that regularly use this pond as habitat and as a beneficial important natural area. So removing the leachate, toxins, chemicals and plastics from the shoreline, wetlands and watershed is especially important to them and directly benefits the vital health of the animals that depend on the pond and some of the rare natural areas in the city, and appreciable benefits for the people who love these animals too and who enjoy walking and finding tranquility around these scenic natural area trails. I saw a kingfisher by the pond too as I left, trout lilies and mayapples were growing in the woods nearby. I was certainly glad to have contributed the effort.
April 19 2024
I emailed the City of Toronto (311 @ Toronto Parks) about the huge amount of styrofoam and toxic plastic pollution along the shore of the pond that directly feeds into the Don River.
April 20 2024
I cleaned up 5 pounds of styrofoam and plastics from the pond shoreline and lower stream areas, consisting mostly of small and medium pieces of styrofoam, plastic grocery bags, chip bags, dog waste bags, plastic bottles, bottle caps, straws, soft drink and beer cans, hot beverage cups and hot beverage lids, consumer waste.
April 22 2024 – Earth Day
Litter removal: Today, I focused on removing construction or freighting plastic wrap that had been stuck in several trees above the Don River Valley. So, I visited the local little park by the valley that no one else seems to clean up throughout the year and removed the industrial plastic wrap that had been stuck there for months above the valley and above an expansive wetland below the forested ravine slopes. In the 15-20lbs of mostly plastic litter that I removed today; large plastic garbage bags, plastic bottles, plastic coffee lids, beverage cans, plastic cordage, plastic chip bags, plastic candy wrappers, styrofoam and large pieces of hard plastic among other toxic consumer waste removed. Locally, I have removed more than 60 pounds of litter this week from ravine forests, valley forests, streams, pond shorelines, wetlands and watersheds. This work directly benefits ecosystem health, community well-being including for those who enjoy walking the East Don Valley trails for physical or mental health benefits including for peace of mind or to connect with nature, and it directly benefits vital habitat well-being for midland painted turtles, kingfishers, wood ducks, beavers, dragonflies, trout lilies, freshwater fish, bees, butterflies, woodpeckers, golden-crowned kinglets, white-throated sparrows, goldfinches, Cooper’s hawks, red-tailed hawks, white-tailed deer, great blue herons, mourning cloak, monarch butterflies, gartersnakes, toads and more!
I also had the chance to see a mature ravine forest above an expansive cattail wetland, several species of small solitary bees nesting in an old tree above the wetland, and an eastern gartersnake basking beneath an eastern red cedar.
At the end of the day, I offered sacred tobacco, from a place I have long-visited on Manitoulin Island, beneath a mature white oak tree that we really appreciate in our backyard and gave thanks for the springtime and gave thanks to Mother Earth and to nature. Chi-miigwetch! Big thanks (Anishnaabemowin)!
Bonus Content: April 23 2024
I helped rescue two baby eastern cottontail rabbits from our neighbour’s, window well, and released them back into the backyard near the hedgerow.
Litter removal- additional cleanup (in addition to regular daily efforts);
City slickers sure love their street litter. I cleaned up 20 lbs of plastic street litter just now (including litter like the litter I had removed in the area recently this week, as well as a lot of hard plastic including car debris, as well as more styrofoam and industrial plastic wrap on a neighborhood local street and nearby main road because I was tired of the litter and it badly reflecting the neighbourhood there with a lot of litter piled up in the naturalized easement along the sidewalk just above the DVP. In that, we can show people a version of our neighborhood that looks kind of like sh** and is harmful to the environment, or we can help the environment and do our part to regularly clean things up and show a public really nice local area. I cleaned a large stretch of the area above the valley, including by a drainage culvert and a naturalized area among the shrubs and bushes at nearby bus stop.
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