Thousands planted, more to go: Living Green Barrie nears 10,000 trees for the city

Living Green Barrie reminds residents as they’re doing their spring cleaning to recycle their e-waste and take home a tiny tree as a thank-you.

Living Green Barrie is working towards a sustainable future, planting one tree at a time around the City of Barrie.

Andee Pelan, executive director of Living Green Barrie, says the organization is working towards its goal of planting 10,000 trees.

“We plant 80 to 100 different trees,” said Pelan. “We’re going to have different trees and shrubs. A lot of them are flowering. We have trees for partial shade. We have full sun.”

The group has planted more than 8,000 native trees since 2019 working towards their goal of 10,000 by the end of May.

“The great thing about a native tree is it is going to grow a lot better and it’s going to bring those birds and the pollinators and the butterflies and all the things that we want a tree to do, it’s going to do for us,” said Pelan.

On May 2, Living Green Barrie will hold an event where you can bring electronic waste which they will dispose of for you and in return will give you a tree to take home and plant yourself.

“We’re going to be more resilient with more trees that we have in the ground,” said Pelan. “But the trees are also doing things for our personal health; they’re making our city a more economically prosperous city.”

Also on May 2, Living Green Barrie will be planting an additional 1,000 trees in Shalom Park in south Barrie, bringing their total closer to 10,000.