Reep Green Solutions

Prep Day at Northview Heights Lookout Park 🌳🌱

In the fall, we'll be planting a new mini-forest in !

To prepare the 100m2 site for the future 300+ native trees and shrubs, generous volunteers from the community, Sustainable Waterloo Region, and Reep's Board came out to lend a hand!

This stage adds needed organic material to improve and help the plants thrive. Following the , we:
🌳 Trimmed the grass and removed weeds
🌳 Laid down carboard to level the area and help decompose
🌳 Layered on soil with compost
🌳 Topped it with bark mulch

We'll come back in a couple of months once it has all started to decompose, to start the planting.

Stay tuned for updates and our call if you'd like to learn and help out!

Big thanks to Green Communities Canada and Trees for Life Canada for funding this project!

On June 24th, Our Director of Program Management Kelven Goodridge, Board Members Mimi Mahmud and Sharmalene Mendis-Millard, and ClimateActionWRPlan Manager Kyra Chisholm-Askin were invited to attend a convening of the Climate & Equity Lab hosted at Wilfrid Laurier University.

does not affect everyone equally, and the communities hit hardest are those already living with the least capacity to recover — a reality that is worsening in Canadian cities. The Lab works alongside these communities to understand, advocate for, and build and .

As community and cross-sector partners, we participated in the day's sessions to:
📗 Learn about the various local initiatives supported through The Lab
💡 Reflect, ideate, and collaborate on the vision for Community-Led Resilience Hubs
🤝 Explore the importance of connecting local needs with systems-level efforts across Canada
- and more.

The Lab formed in 2023 as a collaboration between the Gore Mutual Foundation, Co-operators, Peter Gilgan Family Foundation, Social Innovation Canada, and York University’s Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change.

We're thankful to see, and be part of, the meaningful work and impact coming from cross-sector collaboration — academia, private industry, government, and community organizations — towards the united goal of equitably supporting our communities in the realities of a changing climate.

Congratulations to our Board Member Michelle Watson on receiving Green Communities Canada's Outstanding Board Person Award! 🏆

This honour recognizes an individual "who has demonstrated the strongest commitment this year, providing excellent stewardship to the organization through their work and achievements".

Having served on our Board of Directors for 6 years, including 3 as Chair, we can't think of anyone more deserving than Michelle! Your guidance, dedication, and leadership have made a lasting impact on Reep and our mission to support community-empowered sustainability. 💚

Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition, and on such a meaningful way to culminate your years of service with Reep! 🎉