Toyota Canada sponsors Earth Week events

Toronto, Ontario – Thousands of people braved cold weather on Sunday to participate in Toyota Canada-sponsored Earth Day events in Toronto and Montreal. In Toronto, about 2,500 participants joined Defense Minister Art Eggleton in planting 2,002 new trees at Downsview Park.

In Montreal, Earth Day participants took to the downtown streets for a neighbourhood clean-up. Hydro Quebec President André Caillé opened the event, which saw teams of volunteers clean up garbage along Sainte-Catherine and McGill streets. A variety of musicians and singers were on hand to entertain
volunteers, and prizes were handed out to the top clean-up teams. At the Toyota display, people had a chance to see the RCMP Prius patrol car, which is normally on duty on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

The hybrid Prius greatly reduces smog and greenhouse gas emissions by producing about half the carbon dioxide and a tenth the nitrous oxides and hydrocarbons of conventionally-powered cars, and is certified to California’s Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV) standards.

Later this week, the City of Hamilton will kick off its Commuter Challenge with a major announcement involving Prius on Wednesday, April 24 from 7 to 9 a.m. at the La Costa Restaurant in Hamilton. On Wednesday, as well, Evergreen will announce this year’s recipients of grants under the Toyota Evergreen Learning Grounds program. The grants help schools turn school grounds into natural learning environments, transforming asphalt jungles into inviting play areas.

Capping off the week’s activities, team members at the Toyota assembly plant in Cambridge, Ontario are organizing a park clean-up on Sunday, April 28. That event will take place at the Toyota Nature Centre at Shade’s Mills Conservation Area in Cambridge, and will feature a barbecue, kite making demonstrations and displays of live tarantulas, rats and turtles.

More detail on Toyota Canada’s environmental performance is available in Toyota’s first-ever North American Environmental Report. The report is available at www.toyota.ca