Hamilton is a 'green city' Skyway smokestacks tell 'wrong' story: Greenbelt author

BurkhardMausbergwas determined to tell the untold story of the Greenbelt, a story that includes how the amount ofgreenspacein Hamilton is undervalued.

Mausbergis the CEO of the Greenbelt Foundation and author of,The Greenbelt: Protecting and Cultivating a Great Ontario.

He says Hamilton is not given enough credit for the amount of waterfalls, trees and green space itholds.

"The public's perception of Hamilton is wrong," saidMausberg.

It is an honour to have our story shared in theGreenbeltbook-AlanHansell

"Most people know Hamilton from the Burlington Skyway, they see the steel mills, they see the pollution... They really don't get an appreciation that Hamilton is actually quite a green city."

The bookdetailshow the Greenbelt came to be includinginterviews withformer Ontario PremiersDaltonMcGuinty,Mike Harris, and Bill Davis.

"We always hear negative stories about the environmentwhether it's climate change, pollution or species becoming extinct. But here's a public policy of a two million acre greenbelt where we got it right," saidMausberg.

Alan Hansell,Founder of Stewards of Cootes Watershed, a team dedicated to thehealth andbiodiversityof Cootes Paradise and the creeks that flow into it, is pleased with the book.

"It is an honour to have our story shared in theGreenbeltbook,"said Hansell.

The group has pulled over 156,000 kilograms of debris out of the watershed.

"TheGreenbeltgives us confidence that the Cootes Watershed and the Red Hill Watershed will be protected long after all the time and effort our group has invested to restore them," saidHansellin anews release.

Celebrating inspiring stories

Thelaunch took place at Epic Books. Along withMausbergandHansell,Head of Science at Royal Botanical Gardens,Dr. David A.Galbraith was in attendance.

Mausberg'ssays there are tons of stories he finds inspiring in the book.One in particular isthe story of David and LuluFarnell,acouple who started thecompany,Real Food for Real Kids.

When the couple'syoungest son started going to daycare they noticed and weren't happy withthe food he and other children were being served.

This prompted them to create a snack program from their home kitchen. The food was made with local and organic ingredients.

"What strikes me about this story isa mom and dad concerned about what their kid was eating, then transcribed it into different schools anddaycaresso they could all eat well. That's what's inspiring."

The book launched April 20.