Planting a tree is like planting a cooling fan

“We’re hoping that each industry will at least buy one tree and help make St. Laurent greener,” said Mrs Bittar during the diner. A brochure was also handed to the people present, giving more details about the project, but, more importantly, listing its numerous advantages. “More and more we talk about how important it is for businesses to be socially conscious and this is exactly what this initiative is about,” said Audrey Atwood, project coordinator for Développement économique Saint-Laurent. “It’s an interesting project that can improve the quality of your workplace and help save on the air-conditioning bill,” she added.

Improving the work environment is in fact the first of five benefits listed in the brochure. It says that embellishing the land surrounding office buildings has a positive impact on the employees’ well-being. Many studies show that green spaces, trees and plants can also help increase productivity. Planting trees could also be the first step in building an outdoor lunch area.

Planting a tree also means doing something socially responsible. The UQAM and Université de Montréal-led study showed that the Montreal region lost 18% of its green spaces between 1998 and 2005. To help St. Laurent’s industrial sector get greener is to take part in a common effort to improve the urban landscape.

The war against urban hotspots is on and the best way to fight is by planting trees. “If we look at a thermal map of Montreal, we can easily see a bigger proportion of hot spots over St. Laurent, said Mrs Atwood. However, this is not really surprising considering how big the industrial sector is and because of all the tarmac there is.”

The last two advantages listed in the pamphlet are along the same lines as they deal with climatic changes and air quality.

The project, headed by the Conseil régional de l’environnement de Montréal and six other partners, will end in October with two tree-planting periods scheduled, the first one this spring and the other during fall.

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(Photo: Mr Rivaud of Comité écologique du Grand Montréal)