‘I thought, free trees, why not?’ London residents create traffic backup as they collect free trees for Earth Day

London celebrated Earth Day by giving away more than 2,200 trees for residents to plant at home. CTV’s Sean Irvine reports.

An Earth Day promotion created a traffic jam on Wednesday as hundreds of Londoners waited to get their hands on one of more than 2,200 free trees.

In a moment of irony, motorists, inside their primarily fossil fuel-burning vehicles, awaited their chance to improve the environment during the giveaway at the Carling Heights Optimist Community Centre.

“It’s a good problem to have, but we’re definitely going to have to think about it for spring 2027 if we need to find a new location that’s got more traffic availability. We’ve never had a [traffic] problem quite this bad,” said Kat Hodgins, the manager of forestry operations for the City of London.

Yet, with a little patience, those in the queue were eventually able to choose any two of their choice of 18 native species and four fruit trees provided by the City of London.

“I thought, free trees, why not? We have property that could use some trees. And what better way to celebrate Earth Day than planting a couple of trees?” said city resident Annette Henderson, who selected a white pine and a tulip tree.

It did not take long for most tree types to disappear. But Hodgins said all participants also received a bag of compost recycled from city residents themselves.

“They come from the city’s green bin program. So, the green bins go out to the curb, get composted, and then come back to the community this way.”

Hodgins said the money to pay for the trees comes out of the urban forest strategy budget.

“We are working to increase the city’s tree canopy cover and increase the amount of native species we have on the landscape, introduce people to native species and just help people celebrate Earth Day by doing something good.”

Several in the line were impressed by the effort.

“We work closely with urban roots. So, we know what’s required for the environment. It is really nice to see so many people volunteering and, you know, handing out trees,” said one man.

London was recently named the 2026 Forest Capital of Canada, an honour that matches its nickname.

“Keeping the forest in the Forest City is great,” concurred Hodgins.

The city will hold another giveaway in the fall.