Vancouverites who registered to yank invasive species out of Renfrew Ravine this weekend get free tickets to LIVE at Squamish.
But those who want to help and nab music festival tickets through the Molson Canadian Red Leaf Project will need to sign up for the waiting list. All of the 220 volunteering spots for the three events on July 14 and 15 are full.
People are really keen to get involved in the greenspaces in Metro Vancouver, said Dana McDonald, urban ecology project manager in Vancouver for the non-profit Evergreen. A lot of people, Im finding, are learning a lot, theyre spreading it out to their friends when they learn about the event. I mean, they are attracted to getting a ticket, but its also paired with a really cool opportunity to be outside and learn something about the urban parks.
Urban park and music lovers will perhaps enjoy more luck with the waiting list for August events at Renfrew Ravine and Jericho Beach Park. Volunteers will unearth Himalayan blackberry and Himalayan balsam, commonly known as policemans helmet, in the ravine because these species harm the growth of native vegetation and erode soil. Volunteers will mostly likely clear English ivy from Jericho Beach Park.
This is the second year Molson Coors Canada has partnered with national charity Evergreen to work on community parks. Last year, nearly 1,000 Canadians restored 10 community parks across the country. This year, the Red Leaf Project will tackle 100 community parks.
We use a lot of local products within our beers, said Julie Gathercole, external communications manager for Molson Coors Canada. We use Prairie barley, some of our beers use hops from British Columbia, so for us it was important to give back to the land and find a way to do that, so thats why we focused on park cleanups and planting trees.
An environmental organization collaborating with a big beer company is a good fit, said Akasha Allen, the Toronto-based national project co-ordinator for Evergreen.
They really wanted to give back to the environment and they wanted to do it with engaging with the local public and their market and Evergreen is really good at community engagement and getting people involved and educating people about the environment, she said.
Evergreen already works in the Renfrew Ravine and with the Jericho Stewardship Group at that park. It tends community gardens in Vancouver, including at city hall. Evergreen plans to launch public water quality monitoring events this fall.
Molson is one of the sponsors for LIVE at Squamish, which includes The Tragically Hip, The Pack A.D. and Chromeo, Aug. 24 to 26.
Twitter: @Cheryl_Rossi
