BY OMAR JABER
One Million Trees Mississauga will be celebrating Canada’s 150th anniversary by planting 150 trees in each of the city’s 11 wards on Saturday.
“I’m currently on a wait list — hope to get a couple of tickets for my girlfriend and I,” said volunteer Joe Cancilla, who’s looking to get in on the Richard Jones Park planting in Cooksville.
“I volunteered years ago and I enjoyed it. It felt good,” he said.
For 20 years, the city has been taking to parks and public land, encouraging residents, schools and businesses to join their tree-planting efforts.
With more than 240,000 trees planted to date, the campaign aims to add 1,650 more this Earth Day when volunteers visit 11 parks across Mississauga.
“An urban forest is part of a healthy city and sustainable community,” said parks and forestry division marketing coordinator John Guth, who joined the One Million Trees campaign in 2016.
With two million trees on public and private land, Guth calls Mississauga’s urban forest “a valuable asset.”
Throughout the year, the program hosts planting events for residents, businesses, schools, homeowners and community groups.
More than 600 volunteers are expected to attend on Saturday, many of which are groups who attend annually.
Ward 6 Coun. Ron Starr says the goal is to plant one million trees by the year 2032.
This target can’t be achieved alone, Starr previously told volunteers, which is why they rely on the help of the community.
The Earth Day event is free and can be attended by registering online.
For those unable to go, trees can be planted on your own property and registered on the website, still contributing towards the final count for the campaign.
All plantings take place at 9:30 a.m.
For those who prefer to be indoors, the Central Library is running Earth Day films all afternoon.
Nearly 200 countries are celebrating Earth Day this year.
