TORONTO, Ont. - Before the day is over, St. James Park should be greener than it's ever been.
Volunteers laid sod at the park, Thursday, to repair the damage caused by the Occupy Toronto encampment.
Skids of sod arrived before dawn and 150 volunteers helped to lay 11,000-square metres of new grass in the park.
Tony DiGiovanni of Landscape Ontario told 680News the Occupy Toronto encampment did a lot of damage to the turf.
"There were a lot of people, there [were] tents, there was a lot of compaction, it rained during that month, so a lot of mud. We found a lot of hay, carpets, tent tags, so a lot of that stuff had to be cleaned out," DiGiovanni said.
Alan White, with Turf Systems in Burlington, brought his team into the city because he said grass is key to cutting pollution, and he knows the value of creating oxygen.
"The sod here by the number of rolls -- almost 12,000 rolls of sod -- will produce enough oxygen for two-and-a-half-thousand people every day," White said.
Matt, from Fairgreen Sod in Markham, said he's here because the people of Toronto have always supported his family business.
"We thought why not give back to the people that have supported our three generations of family, that have bought off us. Residents of Toronto supported us, so why not support them," Matt said.
An estimated $200,000 in labour and materials were donated to fix the Occupy Toronto damage.
The work was done for free by Landscape Ontario and the Nursery Sod Growers of Ontario.