Planting sustainable roots at Sheridan College

These were not planted at Sheridan. But you get the idea!  Photo by Brittany Preocanin.

STORY BY GREG LOWENTHAL

Not rain, nor wind nor cold could dampen their spirits.

Students and volunteers were out in full force on Saturday, October 3 planting trees at Trafalgar Campus to create greener spaces in the Sheridan community.

They were also joined by environmental group Oakville Green and staff from Sheridan. While there was a lot of struggling to put the trees in place because of the wind, eventually the eight varieties of trees were hoisted into place and planted firmly into the large holes dug before the event. Among the varieties were a Canadian sugar maple and locust trees.

The event is a joint effort between the Sheridan sustainability coordinator, Wai Chu Cheng, and Oakville Green, a non-profit organization promoting greener spaces in the town.

Karen Brock, Oakville Green president, explained the reason behind planting trees at Sheridan.

“We asked, how can Oakville Green and Sheridan become involved and this is the product,” she said. “By being able to improve places where you live or play or go to school, to me, it gives people that hands-on experience.”

George Georgopoulos, Sheridan’s occupational health and safety manager, was on hand helping with the tree planting.

“This is my first time actually,” he said.

He agrees that such events build awareness of sustainability.

“Yeah, I think it’s raising awareness and getting in the forefront of peoples’ minds so it helps with future sustainability messages.”

Katie Rinas, a facilities project manager at Sheridan, says the event is beneficial for the college.

“Well, first thing, it’s good to have a couple more trees on campus” she said. The tree canopy will help keep the buildings cooler during the summer and prevent the systems from heating up too much.“I work with the mechanical systems so it’s good to have a lot more of trees on campus.”

Safiyyah Husain, a student at Davis Campus in the Environmental Technician program, was also supporting the initiative.

“This is my first year planting trees.”

While the event was hampered slightly by the uncooperative weather, the volunteers still had a good time and were able to create more shade on campus for future hot summer weather.