On Friday, April 18, grade five students from Dunrankin Drive Public School in Malton put on their gloves and helped the GTAA perform a 20-Minute Makeover on Toronto Pearson. Joining other companies, schools and residents, the GTAA was a proud participant in the GTA-wide initiative.

The students pitched in to help clean up a portion of land that will be used for a future walking and cycling trail, which will run through the airport property. Mississauga Councillor Eve Adams led the children in their clean up project as a result of a new partnership between the GTAA and the City of Mississauga.

“We are excited that the city has expanded their 20-Minute Makeover program to include the airport lands,” said Lloyd McCoomb, President and CEO of the GTAA. “These children worked on a part of the Etobicoke Creek Trail that will eventually be opened up to the public and will become a part of their community. They can take pride in their role.”

Since the GTAA assumed the operations of Toronto Pearson, efforts have been underway to restore both the Etobicoke Creek and Spring Creek, which are located on airport property. Work has included rebuilding eroding streambanks, removal of barriers to fish migration and planting seedling trees throughout the Spring Creek valley.

As part of the 20 kilometre Etobicoke Creek Trail, which runs from Lake Ontario to Steeles Avenue in Brampton, the GTAA has designated 3.7 kilometres of trail on airport property to be opened to the public in 2009 as a multi-purpose recreational trail. The Etobicoke Creek Trail connects to the Waterfront Trail, which is part of the TransCanada Trail.

The GTAA takes pride in our expansive environmental program and is committed to reducing the airport’s environmental footprint on the community. Other key parts of the program include stormwater management, monitoring and studying air quality, ecology and reducing the carbon footprint of the airport. Toronto Pearson was the only airport in North America to participate in last month’s Earth Hour.