Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s virtual Earth Month event! The Bingo card was a great success with over 90 team members participating and resulted in 16 new Green Team members (want to join? Email green@uhn.ca!)!

We loved everyone’s enthusiasm towards the BINGO card and were thrilled about being able to bring you all some amazing content during Earth Month despite our virtual reality. We had some individuals email us photos of themselves and their family participating in the different sustainable activities. Others told us all the amazing examples of ways they completed the 24 actions from the plant-based meals they made to the item they reused again and again. Overall, we received amazing feedback on how it brought smiles to their faces and reminded them of the simple yet effective steps they can take to combat climate change.

A fantastic Bingo card from one of our winners and new Green Team member!

So the results are in… with 88 participants, we were able to award 15 participants with either a beautiful gift basket from our friends at Waste Management or a gift certificate to Fresh City Farms! Congratulations to our winners:

  • Amanda
  • Carley
  • Camila
  • Sharlene
  • Patricia
  • Alex
  • Jasmine
  • Ashely
  • Ana
  • Lynda
  • Theresa
  • Deanna
  • Kateryna
  • Helen
  • Rachel

If you were unable to participate in the Bingo event but want to be inspired with sustainable actions, click here to be directed to the Bingo card. Now, let’s look at the activities that sparked the most interest and those that were a little bit more challenging…

Actions Most Participated In

  • Refused unnecessary items such as plastic cutlery, straws, etc.
  • Ate a delicious plant based meal
  • Bought less garbage/single use plastics
  • Bought something second second hand or made of recyclable material
  • Learned about the different recycling rules in your community and at UHN: If you need a refresher as there are some minor differences (soft plastics), head over to our intranet page to learn more! (Departments > Energy & Environment > Recycling, Compost, Garbage).

More Challenging Actions

  1. Recycling e-waste following municipal guidelines
  • If you are like me, you probably have an old monitor laying around in the corner of your basement or an old iPhone deep in your bedside table drawer. Or is that just me? If so, lets promise together to recycle our old e-waste! Here are some amazing resources for deciding where and what electronics can be recycled:
  • City of Toronto
  • Staples Canada will collect most electronics for free!
  • For your UHN provided e-waste visit our intranet page: Departments > Energy & Environment > eWaste

2. Read up on climate issues & shared with family, friends, coworkers

  • This action is probably easier than you think, in fact, you are doing it right now… If you are reading this blog post or have read any of our other posts, you are already on your way to doing your part to stay informed! How easy was that? Even better, you can follow our Twitter and Facebook pages where we keep you informed on all things sustainability from healthcare to global affairs. People across the globe are experiencing first-hand the direct effects of climate change and have been for years. Staying up to date with these issues will help us to better adapt to the changing climate and help us to determine the different actions we can take to do our part. Thankfully here at Talkin Trash, we can help you with this!

3. Planted fruit or veggies in your garden or window box

  • Planting your own fruits and veggies in your garden or even on a windowsill in your home has many benefits not only for the environment but also your health! Planting your own veggies means you don’t have to worry about those pesky pesticides and chemicals that can be found on those sold in the grocery store. When you grow your own, you are in control on how you decide to grow them. Not only that but by growing your own produce you can save quite a bit of coin as sometimes you can use last year’s seeds from veggies, like peppers and beans, and replant them in your own garden!
  • If a backyard garden is not possible there are many other means of growing your own produce from the comfort of your own home! There are many ways to reuse scraps from veggies, but my favourite has to be green onion. All you need is the rooting base of the stem and a shallow dish of water to put it in. You will find the onion will grow quite quickly and in abundance. Best part is, you will be able to use the same rooting base again and again. For a list of other veggies that you can regrow, click here.
Left: A couple avocados we are regrowing, hoping to be able to plant an avocado tree! Right: Green onion that we have continued to cut and re-grow!

Once again, thank you all for participating in Earth Month 2021 and make sure to keep your eyes pealed for our wheely exciting bike month content!