YOUTH ECO-INTERNSHIPS CANADA
Together for the Environment!
Preserving the environment is an increasingly important ambition for the YWCA Montreal’s employees and community. Thanks to financing from the Government of Canada’s Economic Action Plan and the YMCA/YWCA Canada’s Youth Eco-Internship program, the YWCA will be able to undertake a complete environmental evaluation of the building and operations.
We are looking at the YWCA’s consumption of energy, water, and materials, as well as the production of waste. The study will help us to identify and put into practice actions that will reduce our overall ecological footprint.
In an ecological spirit, environmental themes and activities are also organized each month. Visit this page again soon to learn about our findings, progress and environmental activities!
For more information, please contact: rhorwat@ydesfemmesmtl.org
February: Paper reduction month
In order to further encourage paper reduction at the YWCA Montreal, computers were configured to automatically print double-sided and to save ink. To help us remember, small stickers were distributed with the slogans: “Let’s use scrap paper!” and “Double-sides are sublime!”. New recycling bins for paper and cardboard have also been placed in all meeting rooms where they were absent before.
March: Climate change and energy saving month
On March 10th, the Climate Challenge Campaign (Défi Climat) will be launched in all regions of Quebec. For a second consecutive year, the YWCA Montreal will participate in this campaign. Also, an energy portrait of the building will be completed and we will remind ourselves to adopt simple actions to reduce our energy consumption each day, such as:
- turn off the lights in empty rooms;
- turn off the computer when not in use;
- configure the power saving mode on the computer;
- use the stairs instead of the elevators.
In 2009, the YWCA Montreal used the equivalent in energy of 113 average Canadian households. We are already curious to find out the equivalence of energy of households we can save with many small and significant changes. To be continued...
Défi Climat
(Climate Challenge Awareness Campaign)
“For a second consecutive year, the YWCA Montreal is participating in the awareness campaign, Défi-Climat (Climate Challenge) from March 10th until April 30th. Like the year before, we invite you to register in the program and to take concrete actions to reduce your greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for 2010.”
Click on the image to subscribe!
Five activities have been organized to aid in our understanding of climate change and what we can do, including:
*DESCRIPTION |
WHAT ? |
WHEN? |
WHERE? |
1 |
Free conference on Climate Project Canada, followed by a discussion |
Tuesday, |
Holden-Fisher Hall, |
2 |
Day without meat |
Monday, |
Holden-Fisher Hall, |
3 |
Short-film: Women and Climate Change, followed by a discussion |
Thursday, |
Holden-Fisher Hall, |
4 |
Taste Testing: Gas Problems? |
Monday, |
Holden-Fisher Hall |
5 |
Environmentally-responsible market |
Thursday, |
To be determined |
*
1 - A speaker from Climate Project Canada, developed personally by the former American Vice-President and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Al Gore, will present a conference on the impacts of climate change, as well as solutions to tackle the climate crisis.
2 - You are invited to bring a lunch without meat and eat it during the partial projection of the documentary Les alimenteurs (French version of the Food Inc.), followed by a discussion.
3 - Five women from different countries in the South explain the concrete repercussions resulting from climate change in their countries.
4 - Come and eat your lunch in our company and taste environmentally friendly foods, all the while discussing how to eat healthy for us and our planet. Food is a significant contributor to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of each citizen since every meal represents an average of 3 kg of CO2(1). A food product emits GHGs in many stages of its life before it arrives on our plates, including its cultivation and production, transformation, conservation, packaging, transportation and preparation.