By Staff
July 31st, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
Mapleview Shopping Centre, in collaboration with Micro Habitat, has transformed its rooftop into an urban garden oasis – an initiative aimed to reduce the shopping centre’s environmental footprint and promote local biodiversity.
From the roof top to the table.
Micro Habitat, the organization the mall is partnered with on this initiative, installs urban farms across properties in North America. In this case, Mapleview worked with Micro Habitat to introduce a garden full of vegetables, herbs and flowers directly on the rooftop of the mall.
These vegetables and herbs from the mall will then be donated weekly to the Burlington Food Bank.
The rooftop garden boasts an assortment of vegetables, flowers and herbs, which are harvested on a weekly basis throughout the summer and fall seasons. As part of Mapleview’s commitment to giving back, all the fresh produce harvested each week is donated to the Burlington Food Bank and proceeds from each urban farm developed contribute to supporting the Breakfast Club of Canada.
In addition to this sustainability initiative, Mapleview will unveil a captivating visual art installation this August, managed by public art consultant Cobalt Connects, featuring talented local artist Stylo Starr kicking off the series. Stylo Starr is a Jamaican-Canadian collage artist whose work centers nature, fantasy, and notions of the Afrofuture.
Stylo Starr is a Jamaican-Canadian collage artist whose work centers on nature and fantasy.
Located in the North Wing across from Sporting Life, the art pieces will revolve around themes of community, diversity and inclusion, providing guests with an enriching visual experience during their visit to the centre that showcases the vibrant artistic community in Burlington.
“We are deeply committed to implementing community-driven and environmentally conscious programs,” said Rita Donnelly, General Manager, Mapleview. “Through these summer initiatives and together with our partners, we hope to inspire our guests, nurture local talent, and create a positive impact on our community.”
Mapleview Shopping Centre has implemented sustainability initiatives year-round to reduce its ecological footprint. The shopping centre has received accreditation from the BOMA BEST program, offers 19 electric vehicle charging stations on its premises, utilizes energy-efficient LED lighting contributing to reduced energy consumption, and provides tenants, retailers and guests with convenient recycling options, among other ongoing programs.
Excellent ideas Gwen looking forward to hearing you delegate next time Bateman is on the agenda. There must be many opportunities COB has to work with this group. What a wonderful day that would be if we became known as Canada’s roof top garden city. How good would Mapleview and yourself feel if if happened. More important is the access to fresh vegetables for those who have a need..
Kudos Mapleview.
An excellent initiative that should be copied to many more rooftops in our City. Bravo Mapleview !
Ben Tuinman
Lots of good lessons in sustainable living and giving back to the community here! Congratulations Mapleview ! Nice to see that gardening food to feed the community has returned to the Maple Avenue area of Burlington! At one time the area was considered “the garden of Canada” with its lovely soil and hospitable climate, this was before all the housing developments were constructed. I remember all those market gardening farms that grew fresh vegetables and the fruit trees that produced delicious fruits before the 1970’s and 1980’s housing boom.
Perhaps future construction of high-rise buildings would have rooftop gardens as part of the required building code? And what about that Bateman property? There’s a lot of flat roof space there that could be rooftop garden?
Excellent idea for Bateman roof. Maybe you could propose it at one of the “Visioning Excercises” that they are holding . Work on the roof at Bateman wasn’t included in Phase 1. It’s going to happen sometime in the future.