Mimico waterfront clean-up day. My daughter was still a toddler when she first joined me. Every time she’s thrilled. Who would think picking up garbage can be this exciting!? This annual community event stopped for 2 years due to COVID and finally came back today!
When we first moved from a condo to a house, we inherited the large garbage bin from the previous owner. I suggested downsizing to a medium but my husband was hesitant. Our family was growing in size so why limiting garbage? We ended up downsizing and 7yrs & 2 kids later, our medium bin has never been full. There are so many different ways to reuse and recycle things. We also have an amazing small community where we can share things. Majority of my kids’ clothes, shoes and toys are second hand. I buy used things whenever I can. I enjoy seeing things get second/third/fifth life. When the clothes are full of holes or stains, Value Village takes them as rags/textiles to process – there’s always another way.
Here’s my daughter and I planting native plants at Point Pelee national park as part of the habitat recreation project. We love plants. We have a patch of clover lawn and dandelion in our backyard that’s been my husband’s eyesore for several years. My daughter and I loved their beautiful flowers and understand how important they’re for our bees and other pollinators. “The difference between a flower and a weed is a judgement.” I would love to see more “weedy” yards and boulevards than manicured lush lawn that thrives in fertilizer, pesticides, water and mowing.
We planted milkweed a few years ago and last year we were finally able to get enough to start seeing Monarch eggs and that’s the beginning of raising our first caterpillars! Feeding a couple of hungry cats was fun and watching them molting was magical. Two made it to the adulthood – both are female. Letting them go was hard for the kids but very rewarding. We watched them drying their wings, smelling flowers, and eventually flying away.
Just a few random stories popping in my head on this Earth Day. Isn’t Earth Day supposed to be every day as we only have one earth? As a landscape architect, we can and should do more. Would love to hear others’ stories – please share yours!
Written by: Yun Lui, Senior Project Manager, Toronto