The City of Brantford will be celebrating Earth Day on April 22, 2023 , which marks the 53rd anniversary of Earth Day, a worldwide day of environmental activism and a way to continue the important conversation around climate change.
Brantford City Council declared the week of April 16, 2023 to April 22, 2023 as Earth Week in the City of Brantford during their regular council meeting on Tuesday, March 28, 2023.
The City is offering many ways for residents to get involved in environmental initiatives throughout the week, including a community-wide clean up event, a free tree giveaway and more.
“I am excited to see this important community event return to Brantford,” said Mayor Kevin Davis. “This Earth Week, I invite all residents to come together to take steps towards a cleaner, greener future for ourselves and future generations. Participating in Earth Day events like Let’s Clean our City can make a meaningful difference in our environment and community.”
Let’s Clean our City
In 2022, the City held its first community-wide annual clean up event, Let’s Clean our City. Over 1,200 participants came together to clean up more than 420 kg of litter from the trails, streets, and parks. This year’s Let’s Clean our City event will take place on Friday, April 21, 2023 and Saturday, April 22, 2023. Individuals, groups, neighbourhood associations, and organizations are invited to register online to indicate their location of clean-up and supplies needed. Residents are encouraged to use their own reusable gloves but clean-up kits that include one large garbage bag, one large clear bag, a pair of gloves, and information on how to dispose of different materials will be available for pick-up at the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre Information Desk, 254 North Park Street, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. from Monday, April 17 until Friday, April 21.
Individuals can leave their collected litter at the curbside with their regular garbage pick-up if it is under five bags in total. Groups or larger clean-ups can bring the collected garbage to one of three disposal locations where City of Brantford staff will dispose of it for you.
Prizes will randomly be awarded to registered participants that submit a photo online of their clean-up efforts. Prizes are offered in the following categories:
- Individuals can win one of two $50 gift cards to a local business.
- Neighbourhood Associations can win a $500 prize to be spent on an environmental initiative in their neighbourhood.
- Community groups, businesses or other organizations can win a $500 cash donation to a local charity of their choice.
- Participating schools can win one of three countertop composters for their school.
To participate in the Let’s Clean Our Brantford Photo Contest and to receive your clean-up kit, register at Brantford.ca/CleanBrantford by 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 20.
Participants are also encouraged to share photos of their efforts on social media by tagging the City of Brantford and using the hashtags #CleanBrantford and #TrashTag.
Free Tree Giveaway
To support local climate action, the City of Brantford is offering 400 FREE trees (18” to 24”) for Brantford residents to plant on their residential property. Starting at 9 a.m. on Monday, April 17, homeowners can register online at brantford.ca/FreeTrees on a first come, first serve basis to select their preferred tree species and pickup time. Eight native species of trees will be made available with a limit of one free tree per residential property. Tree pickup is scheduled on Saturday, May 13 and Monday, May 15 at 1 Sherwood Drive, Brantford. The trees must be picked up and planted by residents.
Community Tree Planting
Join the Brant Tree Coalition for the 10th Annual Brantford Community Tree Planting on Sunday, April 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Brant Conservation Area at 119 Jennings Road, Brantford. The group will plant 1,000 native trees and shrubs to help naturalize an area of the Brant Conservation Area. For more information, please call 519-759-4150.
Climate Change Action Plan
Both the Free Tree Giveaway and Let’s Clean Our City initiatives align with Brantford City Council’s declaration of a Climate Emergency in 2019, and are steps towards the City’s commitment of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by the year 2050. To meet their objective, the City has developed a Corporate Climate Change Action Plan and Community Climate Change Action Plan to reduce emissions from City run activities such as operating City buildings, buses/trucks and streetlights (just to name a few) and to build a long-term strategic plan to reduce community emissions.
