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Keep up with our work and activities!

the end of another season...Almost

10/31/2024

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It’s the end of another growing season…sort of!

Still have kale growing for the lovely patients @torontowildlifecentre
We’ve had the pleasure of helping to nourish recovering wildlife with kale, clover, and over 100K mealworms to date this year
Huge thanks to TWC for all the incredible work they do to rescue and rehabilitate wildlife in need

We are also grateful for the chance to support @FeedTheNeedInDurham this year with 424 lbs of veg
Thank you so much, FTND, for your commitment to addressing food insecurity in our community

We’re now prepping for next season by saving seeds such as the Haudenosaunee skunk beans shown here and improving the drainage in our soil with some hard-working tillage daikon as a cover crop

Urban gardening is such a rewarding way to share healthy, locally-grown food with our community

Many thanks to @WomenInNature for their support this season through the Young Nature Leaders Grant program
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Indigenous crops

10/7/2024

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Haudenosaunee skunk bean, Iroquois crookneck squash, and Northern flint corn. These crops have deep roots in Indigenous agricultural practices, carrying generations of knowledge and culture with them
A huge thank you to @WomenInNature for their support through the Young Nature Leaders Grant this seasonThis grant empowered us to enrich Ajax Indigenous Community & Healing Garden with a variety of seedlings, including Indigenous species
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From Our Garden to Feed the Need: A Seasonal Snapshot

8/17/2024

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Thrilled to support @ftndurham for another growing season! So far, we’ve contributed 167 lbs of food, and we’re excited to donate even more as the peak harvest approaches
Urban gardening is a joyful way to nourish our families and neighbors with healthy, locally-grown food
A big shoutout to FTND for their incredible work in our community! Your efforts inspire us!o edit.
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Ontario Tech's WindFIELD FARMS

8/9/2024

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Click here We were honoured to attend the Unveiling Celebration of The Honeycomb Archway at Ontario Tech’s Windfield Farms The Honeycomb Archway on Aug 5. According to the Office of Campus Infrastructure and Sustainability (OCIS), this innovative structure “not only bridges academia with nature but also serves as a living tribute to pollinators.” What a beautiful and uplifting architectural piece! 😊🌻🦋

For the second year, we have been pleased to support Ontario Tech’s Windfield Farms with native pollinator plants 😌🌻🐝These have included a variety of beautiful species: wild bergamot, showy tick trefoil, wild strawberry (fragaria vesca and fragaria virginiana), lance-leaved coreopsis, green-headed coneflower, pale purple coneflower, black-eyed Susan, heart-leaved aster, butterfly weed, common milkweed, and prairie smoke.

Our contribution was generously supported by Ontario Nature’s and Transport Canada’s Youth Environmentalist Award. Ontario Nature @ontarionature extends this award to honour the vibrant spirits of several environmental leaders, including remarkable young Canadians, who lost their lives en route to the United Nations Environment Assembly on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302. In engaging in this community activity, we hope to carry forward their legacy of safeguarding our planet for future generations 🙂to edit.
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Our Special Spaces: Whitby Hospital Garden

7/25/2024

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We were pleased to lead an Ontario Nature Youth Council Our Special Spaces event at Whitby Hospital in conjunction with Lakeirdge Health Volunteer Services last month. It was a joy to bring our community together to enrich the hospital’s garden and support local wildlife We planted several types of pollinator plants, such as Canada anemone, black-eyed Susan, wild bergamot, thimbleweed, great blue lobelia, heart-leaved aster, pale purple coneflower, common milkweed, and Joe Pye weed.

Our Special Spaces are youth-led conservation volunteering events driven by the needs of the local communities. A focus has been restoring natural spaces, such as creating pollinator habitats by planting native pollinator plants, bringing attention to the fundamental role pollinators play in sustaining our ecosystems and economy.

This event was generously sponsored by TD Friends of the Environment Foundation. Founded by TD Bank Group, TD Friends of the Environment Foundation is a national charity that funds a wide range of environmental initiatives, with a primary focus on education and green space programs.
This event was also supported by Ontario Nature and Transport Canada’s Youth Environmentalist Award. This award honours the vibrant spirits of several environmental leaders, including remarkable young Canadians, who lost their lives en route to the United Nations Environment Assembly on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302. In engaging in this community activity, we hoped to carry forward their legacy of safeguarding our planet for future generations.
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A heartfelt thank you to TD Friends of the Environment Foundation @td_canada, Ontario Nature @ontarionature, Lakeridge Health @lakeridge.health, our mentors Christine Ambre and Maya Davidson at Ontario Nature Youth Council @on_youthcouncil, and all the amazing participants for supporting this initiative Your contributions made a significant impact!
#tdfrriendsoftheenvironment
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AJAX Indigenous Community and Healing Garden

7/22/2024

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What a year 2024 has been so far! Operation EcoPen has been so immersed in exciting community projects that we haven’t posted in a while!😮

We’re thrilled to share one of our favorites: the Indigenous Community and Healing Garden in Ajax 🌱 This beautiful space is a sanctuary for the staff, patients, and volunteers of Ajax Pickering Hospital, as well as the surrounding community. It provides nourishing food and supports mental well-being at the same time.

A huge thank you to Women For Nature for their incredible support through the Young Nature Leaders Grant🌸 @naturecanada_ This grant has empowered us to enrich this garden with a variety of seedlings, including Indigenous species, for a flourishing 2024 growing season 🥕🍅🥦

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to nurture this beautiful space! 👨‍🌾
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A fresh start For 2024

1/15/2024

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Kicking off 2024 with a green vibe! Dropping off used writing instruments with the next generation of Operation EcoPen @staplescanada for recycling at @terracycleca ​
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Thank you!

12/22/2023

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In this season of gratitude, a heartfelt thank you to all the eco-heroes who participate collecting writing instruments with Operation EcoPen! Your commitment to recycling and sustainability is helping us create a cleaner world Special thanks to Township of Uxbridge, Dr. Carlos DeSousa, and UHN for their enthusiastic participation this past fall Writing instruments go to @staplescanada to get recycled into awesome products at @terracycleca ​
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Grubs 'n' Shrubs

11/18/2023

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​Mealworms and veggies help each other grow Mealworm frass helps our veggie production and veggies are nutritious for our mealworms. Here’s one lucky guy who gets to enjoy the brussel sprouts (a cool weather crop) still growing in our urban garden
So pleased to provide TWC @torontowildlifecentre with ~40,000 mealworms this fall! To cap off the season, we’ve also rounded up our last bit of kale for TWC patients
TWC does so much to help preserve wildlife, which is why we think they are awesome! Please support wildlife rescue in your area!
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Young Nature Leader Grant Native pollinator plant project

11/15/2023

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Our pollinator plant project was rewarding because we got to support mental health by improving green spaces and to preserve natural ecosystems at the same timeMany thanks to Nature Canada @naturecanada_ for their support via a Young Nature Leader Grant to provide beautiful native Ontario pollinator plants for schools, long-term care homes, and communities organizations serving vulnerable populations
We have harvested seeds from several pollinator plants, such as black-eyed Susan, milkweed, and wild bergamot. We look forward to wintersowing these seeds to help keep this project going!
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    Derek and Luke Nguyen co-founded Operation EcoPen to increase environmental awareness amongst their peers.

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