Eleven people braved the rain on Sunday to pull Scotch broom and Himalayan blackberry at Aldridge Acres in Maple Ridge.

A new meetup group, the Lower Mainland Green Team, hosted on Sunday by the CEED Centre, spent about four hours clearing an area that will be used as an outdoor classroom for a Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows school district alternative program.

The group was started just five weeks ago by Lyda Salatian who biked from South Surrey on Sunday to the event at Aldridge Acres.

"I find myself talking about environmental issues a lot... I'm tired of talking," Salatian said.

"I feel it's very empowering to get your hands dirty."

The volunteers who came to the weed-pulling event were largely from Maple Ridge, including three Pathfinders, but the group also included people from other municipalities.

Salatian wasn't expecting much of a turnout because of the rain and was pleasantly surprised when the 10 volunteers showed up.

The group managed to clear the invasive plants from an area of 1,500 square feet -- some of the Scotch broom was 12 feet high. The area that was cleared will be used to grow raspberries.

This is the second event the Green Team has organized since it formed on Feb. 7.

Next week, the group will be planting at Tynehead Park in North Vancouver.

Salatian wants to introduce people to other parks around the Lower Mainland because she is concerned that park usage is going down.

Already 136 members have joined the group, which Salatian said shows the desire people have to get out with like-minded people to do something constructive for the environment.

Salatian hopes volunteers at future Green Team events carpool so that the environmentally-focused events don't cause extra damage to the environment.

For information on the Lower Mainland Green Team, go to http://www.meetup.com/the-lower-mainland-green-team.

mrantanen@mrtimes.com