The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative (GLSLCI) announced a new partnership with the TruGreen Company, a professional lawn care company.
This partnership will focus on educating the public in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway region on issues related to protecting water quality, smart water use, and promoting pollinator health. It will also promote the environmental and human health benefits of properly-maintained lawns and green spaces.
“We are excited about our new partnership with TruGreen because it underscores the link between properly-maintained greenspace and our ongoing efforts to protect our region’s water resources, promote pollinator health, and enhance the overall quality of our environment,” said John Dickert, president and chief executive officer of GLSLCI.
The need for this partnership is underscored by the fact that the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Basin is the largest source of surface freshwater in the world. It contains over 21 per cent of the world’s surface freshwater and serves as the primary water source for over 40 million people.
“One of our five core values as a company is ‘community’ and I cannot think of a better way to live that value than partnering with the GLSLCI to raise public awareness on key environmental issues like water quality, smart water use, and pollinator health,” said Jeff Fedorchak, vice president of corporate affairs at TruGreen. “Our social value investing program has traditionally worked with local leaders seeking to revitalize their communities and we see this new public education campaign as a continuation of that commitment.”
Properly-maintained greenspace is widely known to absorb runoff that could contain impurities and potentially enter and harm important bodies of water. In addition, healthy turf and lawn surfaces help purify water entering underground aquifers. This is because root systems and soil microbes act as filters to capture and breakdown many types of pollutants.
“We are delighted to have TruGreen as a new partner in our efforts to build more sustainable communities and protect our water resources and our environment,” said Michelle Morin-Doyle, chair of GLSLCI. “We look forward to working together on important issues which support the protection and preservation of our environment.”
The partnership will begin its initial work later this month with the posting of information covering various water resource, greenspace, and environmental management issues.
