Jean-François Parenteau and Laurence Lavigne Lalonde, Montreal city councillors responsible for the environment and environmental transition, gathered at Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix Elementary school in Verdun on Thursday to kick off their new waste management pilot project.
Twenty-two schools across the island are set to participate in the composting project.
Last month, the City of Montreal presented its 2020-2025 waste management plan, which aims to divert waste from landfills by 85 per cent by 2030.
“We have a big and ambitious project,” said Lavigne Lalonde.
“We receive a lot of demands from schools and other establishments that want to be a part of this.”
READ MORE: Montreal pledges to cut waste in half by 2030
“That’s why we decided to implement a pilot project in schools, because we think the youth are really great ambassadors for changing our behaviors,” Lavigne Lalonde continued.
“They can bring the knowledge they have in their house and the jobs they will have later.”
The city wants to educate and sensitize children on the importance of good gestures and reflexes when facing climate change.
Lavigne Lalonde said the pilot project will allow the city to collect data on the amount of compost schools will be generating each year.
READ MORE: Montreal unveils new organic waste treatment centre in bid to fight climate change
By 2025, all schools on the island of Montreal will have compost, according to their goal.
Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix Elementary school started their composting project three weeks ago. The school principal said that after a five-day week of composting after school daycare, the amount of garbage bags filled went from 32 to 28.
“I noticed climate change and other stuff and I really want to help it,” said Jaeda Kabir, a fourth-grader involved in the school’s composting project.
Get daily news
“Me and my classmates explain to the students what composting is and why we’re doing it and how to do it.”
READ MORE: Time is running out and we need to act’: Montreal wants to ban single-use plastics by 2020
Here’s a list of the 22 schools that will be taking part in the pilot project:
Commission scolaire de Montréal (CSDM)
École Ahuntsic, Préscolaire, Ahuntsic-Cartierville
École Le Plateau, Plateau-Mont-Royal
École Saint-Jean-de-Matha, Southwest
École Maisonneuve, Préscolaire, Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
École Saint-Justin, Préscolaire, Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
École Saint-Jean-de-la-Lande, Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie
Marguerite-De la Jemmerais, Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie
École Saint-Anselme, Ville-Marie
École Pierre-Dupuy, Ville-Marie
École Joseph-François-Perrault, Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension
English Montreal School Board (EMSB)
Coronation School, Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce
Royal Vale School , Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce
East Hill School, Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles
Vincent Massey College, Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie
Nesbitt School, Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie
Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys (CSMB)
École Terre-des-Jeunes , LaSalle
École Guy-Drummond, Outremont
École Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix, Verdun
École Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Verdun
École Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs, Verdun
Commission scolaire de la Pointe-de-l’Île (CSPI)
École Gabrielle-Roy, Saint-Léonard
École de la Belle-Rive, Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles