Peace Day has come and gone once again, and this year the Roots & Shoots Team had fun celebrating peace for people, animals and the environment for an entire week. The week began with free hugs in downtown Toronto, some Torontonians walked right by, while others ran into our open arms.
Then on September 17th, we gave a little back to the environment at the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. With almost 80 participants we collected a lot of litter in a very short time - over 250 lbs of garbage and recycling after only a couple of hours of cleaning! Our top 10 litter items are listed below, we collected over 1000 cigarette butts!
1
cigarettes/cigarette filters
2
food wrappers
3
caps
4
straws/stirrers
5
bags (plastic)
6
beverage bottle (plastic) 2L or less
7
bags (paper)
8
cigar tips
9
cups, plates forks...
10
beverage cans
A week filled with peace wrapped up on September 19th, Peace Day. It was a beautiful sunny day by the Humber Bay Lake Shore, we began the afternoon by creating peace posters and repairing and constructing Giant Peace Doves, in preparation for our Peace March. Since we had so much fun giving free hugs earlier in the week, we decided to give out more to those who passed us on the board walk on Peace Day as well.
The highlight of the day was definitely hearing Michel Chikwanine, a former child soldier from the DRC, as he addressed the Peace Day crowd with a moving and inspirational speech about his difficult experiences and what he is doing to make a difference in the lives of youth around the world. He reminded us that we can all play a part in making the world a better and more peaceful place, every day.
We ended off our week of peace celebrations by joining together, flying our Peace Doves in procession, and marching in peace to the sounds of African drumming. With Peace Day celebrated all across the globe this weekend, Roots & Shoots members are increasing awareness and spreading Jane Goodall's mission of hope and peace.
Roots & Shoots in Action 
