First local Eco-quartier to open

BY ANDY BLATCHFORD

andy.blatchford@transcontinental.ca

Access to green information is a little easier in Pierrefonds/Roxboro, as the borough sets to open a neighbourhood outpost promoting environment-friendly practices.

Environmental group SOS Planete was awarded the mandate to run the West Island’s first Eco-quartier out of Roxboro’s former city hall. “We are very excited,” SOS Planete co-founder Véronique Vendette said, minutes after Pierrefonds/Roxboro borough mayor Monique Worth made the announcement during Monday’s council meeting. “We have a lot of work to do.”

Montreal has 16 Eco-quartiers, which are centres offering recycling tips, green products and drop-off points for organic produce. Volunteers and staff also embark on campaigns to promote awareness and ecologically-friendly alternatives.

Valérie Sabbagh, one of five SOS Planete co-founders, said the Pierrefonds/Roxboro Eco-quartier’s first objective is to boost local recycling. Quebec set a 65-per-cent recycling target for glass, metals and paper in all municipalities before the end of 2008. When Pierrefonds was merged with Senneville two years ago, it had a recycling rate of 27 per cent, Vendette said. Households on the island of Montreal currently recycle about 34 per cent of waste. “Pierrefonds really wants us work on recycling this year,” Sabbagh said.

Worth said the borough wants to start recycling in apartment buildings with nine or more units before the end of 2007. It will provide up to $50,000 in funding for the eco-quartier. “Their main goal is to inform as many

citizens as possible on how (recycling) should be done,” Worth said after the council

meeting. “But they will also address different issues on the environment.”

Vendette said Eco-quartier staff will talk to building owners on how to be more ecologically responsible. The storefront, beside the fire station on Commercial Centre, will sell products including compost bins, water-use reduction devices and rain barrels. “It won’t be a complete store, but we’ll be a window of alternatives,” Vendette said. “People can come to the Eco-quartier and see various alternatives that they can buy.”

For more information about the Eco-quartier or to volunteer, call 514-752-1669.