1995: The North Toronto Green Community is initiated by Jacky Kennedy and Rita Banach.
1996: The Heritage Community Garden and Naturalization site are established at Eglinton Park. The first Lost River Walk takes place.
1997: The Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative (TREC) spins off into its own entity establishing the wind turbine at Exhibition Place.
1998: The Paint Exchange Program diverts thousands of liters of paint from landfill.
1999: The Urban Forests Program encourages neighborhood groups to undertake tree-planting.
2000: The first paid staff person for the organization is hired.
2001: A second community visioning session inspires future plans. People are invited to become members of the organization.
2002: A Speaker Series highlighting various environmental topics is launched.
2003: We launch our Eco-Gift-Wrapping program in partnership with Mountain Equipment Coop to encourage waste reduction during the holiday season.
2004: The Great Garden Adventure, a children’s gardening program, gets under way inpartnership with POINT and Central Eglinton Children’s Centre. We move to our very first office.
2005: The North Toronto Green Community celebrates its 10th Anniversary with the Green Tie Gala and volunteer recognition event. The organization’s name is officially changed to The Toronto Green Community, allowing us to extend our reach.
2006: A five module Train-the-Trainer Manual is created as part of our Greening Toronto’s Gardens initiative.
2007: We successfully pilot our Apartment Greening Project with a property management company in North York to encourage eco-behaviour in high rises. Work begins on drafting an ESL in the Garden Manual to help engage newcomers.
2008: In partnership with Green Communities Canada, we launch EcoDriver to teach fuel-efficient habits and encourage transportation alternatives.The Environment & Diversity Network is established in partnership with Sustainability Network and Community Environment Alliance.
2009: In partnership with Toronto Community Housing Corporation, we run a second Apartment Greening Project focused on recycling, helping reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.
2010: Our Corporate Engagement program takes off, providing eco-themed activities for employee groups.We organize our first annual ‘Laugh for the Environment’ Comedy Fundraiser.
2011: Hundreds of people across the city learn to grow their own food on without a garden by attending one of workshops through our Container Gardening Train-the-Trainer program. As part of the Environment & Diversity initiative, TGC co-hosts the Native Bus Tour of Toronto with a focus on Aboriginal participation in cross-sectoral urban environmental initiatives.
2012: Our Urban Worm Composting Project gets underway at our Community Garden with an aim to become a worm composting hub in the city.