Tag: Education

West Park’s flourishing Gardening Club is growing its own food

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Michelle Rowe-Jardine

September 21, 2022

For anyone who has visited the rooftop patio this summer, patients, family members, staff, and bumblebees have been treated to a gorgeous splash of nature right here at the hospital. The patio is thriving with vibrant greenery and flowers – and even watermelons!

It has been the perfect backdrop to come and relax, eat, socialize, and bask in nature. At the centre of it all are planters that have been overflowing with flowers, fruits, and veggies – and we have the Gardening Club to thank for that.

The Gardening Club, run by Recreation Therapy, brings patients together to get their hands dirty while experiencing the joys of watching a living thing grow and thrive under their care.

Rec therapy has been hard at work with patients to transform the space for everyone to enjoy, and learning a lot along the way.

While neither Ksenia Melamed, Recreation Therapist, nor Jennifer DeGuzman, Recreation Therapy Assistant, were dedicated green thumbs before the program, Melamed says the club has helped her grow into one.

“We learn from each other, and we learn from the patients. The patients know so much,” she says.

Patients provided input for what they would like to grow this summer, which is why you’ll spot tomatoes, peppers, kale, green onions, watermelons and more. After all their hard work, the club harvests these goods and turns them into snacks for the patients, including kale smoothies.

Learn how to grow food in your own backyard or apartment balcony! While there is limited time for the summer harvest, use this guide today to check out what to plant next for the fall season!

Happy World Environment Day!

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Clara Phillips, June 5, 2020

World Environment Day was established by the United Nations in 1974, and is celebrated every year on June 5 to engage governments, business, celebrities and citizens to focus their efforts on environmental issues. The theme for 2020 is Biodiversity. The interdependence of humans and the ecosystems and species in which we coexist is essential to our existence. Climate change is threatening biodiversity globally, and its fragility is clearly seen with recent events such as uncontrollable wildfires, locust infestations across East Africa, clear-cutting for palm oil production, and collection of animals for wildlife markets. Experts believe this type of destruction of natural habitats increases the likelihood of infectious diseases like COVID-19. By distressing wildlife, reducing genetic diversity within animal and plant populations, and causing climate change, humans have created ideal conditions for the spread of viruses. To truly achieve a healthy planet and restore biodiversity, we must first understand the network of living systems and appreciate that it can only work sustainably if it functions coherently a whole.

Canada’s Biodiversity

The second-largest nation in the world, and bordered by three oceans, Canada’s abundant space and beauty makes this country unique. While we are a nation of rich biodiversity, we depend on it for survival, and thus we are responsible for the sustainable use of our biological resources. The Canadian Nature Survey, conducted in 2012, found that almost 70% of Canadian adults choose to spend time outdoors in order to experience nature, and that 13% of Canadian adults volunteered in nature conservation away from their home during an average of 31 days per year. Awareness of the terms “species at risk”, “biodiversity”, and “ecosystem services” was also consistently high in every province and territory. While it seems that Canadians may, in general, appreciate and take the time to enjoy their country’s outdoors, there is still more we can do, and must do, to protect our biodiversity.

Canada’s 6th National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity highlights our conservation plans for biodiversity by protecting fragile areas. In 2018, Canada reported it was on track to meet its target of conserving 10% of coastal and marine areas by 2020. However, progress has been slower in areas of terrestrial land conservation, recovery of species at risk, ecosystem-based management of fisheries, and reducing pollution levels in Canadian waters. These will be continued areas of focus moving forward, as some of our ecosystems are showing signs of stress.

How to Get Involved

Biodiversity education begins with learning. Discover the names of trees, birds, insects and native plants in your area. Once you know a little more, get out and experience the joys of your diverse environment. However, please be cautious of health officials’ pandemic safety guidelines at this time, and if you are looking to visit a recently opened provincial or national park, be prepared before you go with these tips! There are also many ways to get involved without going out into your community: increase biodiversity in your backyard and in your home!

See how West Park is combating climate change with sustainable practices and how we’re leveraging the benefits of nature for therapy in our design of the new hospital coming in 2024.

Thank you for your commitment to the environment. Stay Safe, Flatten the Curve, and Keep It Green!

Take a deep breath… It’s Clean Air Day!

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Clara Phillips, June 3, 2020

Did you know it’s Canadian Environment Week? Canadian Environment Week, established in 1971, is celebrated every year during the week of June 5 to coincide with UN World Environment Day, and this year it also includes Clean Air Day Canada (today!). Take this week to appreciate our beautiful country, and to learn more about our unique and diverse habitats. But first, what is Clean Air Day?

About Clean Air Day

Good air is vital to good health. In 1999, Canada declared Clean Air Day an annual celebration as part of the federal government’s commitment to prioritizing clean air for the physical, social  and economic well-being of all Canadians and their environment.

Environment Canada states that air pollution is one of the most significant environmental challenges that affects public health, yet is also one of the most avoidable causes of death and disease. During this concerning time of COVID-19, the importance of clean air has an even greater influence. Exposure to air pollution increases susceptibility to respiratory viral infections and pneumonia, suggesting that people exposed to higher levels of air pollution may be at greater risk of becoming ill with COVID-19.

How West Park is Taking Action

In the healthcare field, facilities are now challenged by environmental interference as a result of rising temperatures, humidity advisories and poor air quality. West Park, as a leading healthcare facility with a tenacious focus specializing in respiratory rehabilitation, has recognized how the detrimental effects on air quality predisposes our vulnerable patient population to additional injury or illnesses.

Therefore, West Park has established additional precautions and corresponding procedures to ensure the respiratory safety and well-being of staff, physicians, volunteers, students, and patients by operating in accordance with the Government of Canada Air Quality Health Index report. Each year, West Park also voluntarily completes the Green Hospital Scorecard to help us improve our pollution prevention, as well as other climate factors such as energy and water conservation, waste management and recycling, and corporate commitment. Click here to read more about how we are tackling climate resiliency.

As West Park is currently undergoing the largest redevelopment in its history with the construction of a new six-story hospital, we are continuing to uphold our roots of integrating nature into therapy. The design of the new hospital features bringing elements of nature indoors and extending the therapeutic environment to the outdoors. With trails dispersed throughout the 10,000 square feet of outdoor space, respiratory patients, in particular, can use these trails to improve lung capacity in an environment supported with clean, fresh air supplied by surrounding trees. In fact, for every tree removed during construction, three new trees will be planted in their place. Read the full article about West Park’s campus development, “Nature is Nurture”, in the Canadian Healthcare Facilities Winter 2018/2019 issue here, on page 18.

What You Can Do

Wondering what you can do to help reduce your impact on air pollution? Here is a list put together by Air Quality Ontario:

  • Reduce your car use: walk, cycle or take public transit. Leave your car at home, if possible, or be efficient by doing all your errands at once. Hold a teleconference (something we’ve become accustom to during COVID-19) instead of travelling to meetings.
  • Drive clean: try carpooling and join the commuter challenge. Keep your car well maintained to ensure it runs its best, which will help limit its pollutants. If it’s in your means, purchase an electric or hybrid vehicle.
  • Turn off the lights: generating electricity contributes to smog, so remember to turn off the lights whenever you don’t need them!
  • Reduce hydro usage: air conditioning uses up energy which emits pollutants that contribute to smog. Set your air conditioning temperature a few degrees higher to help improve air quality.
  • Use air-friendly products: avoid using aerosol sprays and cleaners, oil-based paints and other chemical products that contribute to poor air quality indoors and outdoors. Use latex and water-based paints, and try a recipe for a DIY chemical-free cleaner.
  • Limit use of small engine tools: small gasoline engines in mowers, chain saws and leaf blowers emit high levels of pollutants that cause smog. Did you know that gasoline-powered lawn mower pollutes 3-4 times as much per hour as your car? Use electric-powered or, even better, manual tools which don’t produce any pollution. Use a push lawn mower to burn calories and protect the atmosphere, and don’t blow your leaves – rake them!

To learn more about the importance of clean air at home and how to protect yourself against air pollution, check out these online resources.

Stay Tuned

This year, the UN’s theme for World Environment Day is Biodiversity. Stay tuned for our upcoming post this Friday, June 5, to shine a light on this special day, and what it means for Canada.

Happy Earth Day!

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Clara Phillips, April 22, 2020

Most of our efforts have been devoted to frontline efforts to care for our patients during the current COVID-19 pandemic. There are few, if any, silver linings to a pandemic, but one has been the impressive resiliency, strength and positivity shown by our staff and other essential workers around the world to get through this time of uncertainty.

Even during these busy times, West Park has always proudly acknowledged the inherent connection of a healthy environment to the health of people, and continuously look for ways to decrease our carbon footprint. We’d like you to join us this Earth Day to celebrate our planet and West Park’s environmental sustainability efforts. From recycling to reducing energy consumption, we’ve now also utilized technology to allow staff who can work from home, to do so effectively, thus not only limiting the risk of viral transmission, but also ensuing a  reduction of emissions from commuting, something that has benefitted the environment on a global scale.

We wish nothing more that you stay safe and healthy during these unprecedented times. Read on for some tips to help you stay green while keeping within our health officials’ pandemic safety guidelines.

With recommendations to go out less frequently, or self-isolation requirements, you may have to be more creative with the food in your kitchen and your “pandemic pantry”. This gives us the opportunity to practice reducing food waste – a significant way to lower your carbon footprint (and your grocery bill!). The best way to reduce food waste is to cook with ingredients you already have at home. Look here for a list of simple and delicious meals you can make using common staple ingredients, and try this challenge:

Prepare a menu for the week with your family using as many close-to-expiring ingredients as you can. Get in the habit of rotating older food to the front of your fridge so you can see what you should be using first (this goes for your freezer and pantry as well!).

If you’re now spending significantly more time at home, make it a point to step away from any screens and streaming. Turn off the television, and do an electricity-free activity: read, work on a puzzle or a craft with your family, or practice an instrument.

Clean out your closet: mend, repurpose or donate old items instead of tossing them in the trash. Check with your local donation centre if they are currently accepting donations, and remember to practice physical distancing measures if you do go out to donate items.

Learn how to plant your garden with native species to protect our natural habitats, grow a small herb or vegetable garden, and click here to see how to grow ingredients on an apartment balcony.Read this article for more creative tips.

Join the Canadian Club Toronto and Thomas Mulcair, chairman of the board of directors at Earth Day Canada, through this virtual event on April 22!

Become an Earth Day digital volunteer, join a digital activity, or find a digital event near you.

Thank you for your commitment to the environment. Stay Safe, Flatten the Curve, and Keep It Green!

February 27: Celebrating International Polar Bear Day 2020

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Organized by Polar Bears International, International Polar Bear Day is celebrated on February 27, drawing attention to the challenges that polar bears face in a warming Arctic.

Polar bears are magnificent creatures, making it all that much more devastating when we see images of horrifically thin bears stranded on melting ice caps. This rapid loss of sea ice from climate warming triggered by human activity is the single biggest threat to polar bears. Polar bears rely on sea ice to travel, find mates and hunt seals, and less time on ice leads to weight loss and physical deterioration. Therefore, slowing (or, ideally, stopping) climate warming is critical to minimizing dramatic declines in polar bear numbers. It has been shown that one of the most effective ways to slow global warming is to reduce the use of fossil fuels and shift to renewables for our energy needs. Not only will this be good for the polar bears, but it will also help lessen the associated detrimental impact to human health.

International Polar Bear Day aims to enlighten people around the world to evaluate their impact on the environment, take steps to reduce their carbon output, and exercise voting rights to elect leaders who support a rapid transition from fossil fuels to renewables.

Want to know what YOU can do TODAY to help save the polar bears? Read this, donate here, adopt a bear, or join a challenge, such as the Thermostat Challenge, the Power Down Challenge, the No Idling Challenge, or the Pedal for Polar Bears Challenge!

West Park also takes this day to reflect on the importance of our commitment to a healthy environment. We continually strive to minimize our overall ecological impact and are resilient to the emerging challenges of climate change. One of our major commitments to reduce energy and resources was recently awarded with the Green Hospital of the Year (non-acute) by the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care, and we were proudly able to report our 3rd consecutive year of below average energy-use intensity. By improving our efforts to promote and develop new environmental programs in 2020, we are aiming to minimize our carbon footprint even further and defend our title as Green Hospital of the Year.

Power to the plants! Embracing the International Year of Plant Health

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Clara Phillips, January 30, 2020

The United Nations General Assembly has named 2020 the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH). Plant health has been defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations as “the discipline that uses a range of measures to control and prevent pests, weeds and disease causing organisms to spread into new areas, especially through human interaction such as international trade.”

When we think of plants and the environment, we typically tend to think of plant-based diets, tree-planting and protecting rainforests. But, benefits go much further than this. What gets forgotten is the fact that protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect biodiversity and boost economic development.

As the source of all life on Earth, we must do more to protect plants from pests and diseases. As a society we must take action to protect the environment. Climate change is no longer a threat of which the effects are distant and intangible to us. The last time you drove a car, threw a plastic wrapper in the garbage, or used a non-environmentally friendly chemical cleaner at home, the world didn’t come crumbling around you, did it? However, we are starting to feel these effects in many parts of the world. Devastating wildfires, rising ocean levels, melting ice caps, droughts and hurricanes. Without drastic action, these disastrous events will only increase in frequency and intensity.

How can we as a society do more to protect plants from pests and diseases? People generally have a lack of knowledge of the importance of plant health; thus, one of the main goals of the IYPH campaign is to inspire people to learn more about plant health and take concrete action. The FAO estimates that agricultural production must rise about 60% by 2050 to feed the world’s growing population, and with plant pests responsible for killing up to 40% of food crops globally, not to mention the reduced quantity and diminished nutrients of plants from climate change, it is critical, now more than ever, to educate and act on protecting plant health.

A blog post about plant health cannot go without recognizing the amount of tree removal across West Park’s campus for construction of the new hospital. The sacrifice of the campus’ trees was commemorated in September 2018 with an unforgettable Tree and Land Blessing Ceremony presided by First Nations Elder Shannon Thunderbird, who led a traditional aboriginal drumming ritual to honour the trees and land.

For every tree taken down during construction, West Park will plant three in its place. Our tree count will almost double with more than 1,200 trees on campus, offering comfort and therapeutic benefits and contributing to a healthy ecosystem.

Want to get involved or learn more about protecting plant health in your community? Join the IYPH 2020 photo contest, or check out the resources below: