STREET TREES GREEN WARD THREE

September 30, 2016, Hamilton, Ontario
MEDIA RELEASE

STREET TREES GREEN WARD THREE

After an eight-week campaign, OPIRG McMaster Street Tree Project arranged for 62 homes in Hamilton’s east end to get free street trees planted in their front yards.

This year’s project was coordinated by McMaster undergraduate student Hannah Walters-Vida and focused on parts of Hamilton’s Gibson, Landsdale, and Stipley neighbourhoods.

Spaces for more street trees

Walters-Vida will present the results to the Public Works Committee at Hamilton City Hall council chambers on MONDAY, OCTOBER 3 at 1:30pm

Lower-income areas of Hamilton suffer from poorer air quality and less urban canopy than other parts of the city. Through a door-to-door campaign, the OPIRG Street Tree Project works in coordination with the city of Hamilton’s existing free street tree-planting program to encourage people in these areas to request trees for their properties.

Residents chose to request trees mainly for the aesthetic and environmental benefits that they provide.

“By talking directly with residents, we’ve been able to get results,” says Walters-Vida, results that account for an average increase equal to 20 years of tree requests in a span of two months. 

“There are small things we can and should do to improve living conditions in the most disadvantaged parts of Hamilton. Street trees are a simple and attainable step in the right direction.”

LEARN MORE: 

2016 Street Tree Project Final Report
Street Tree Project Page www.opirg.ca/project/hamilton-street-tree-project

OPIRG (Ontario Public Interest Research Group) McMaster is a student funded not-for-profit with an environmental and social justice mission. OPIRG has been supporting the Street Tree Project since 2013.