Montreal & the Environment

This past weekend I went to Montreal and realized how different the environmental culture is from most of the places I've been in America. Despite being a large tourist city, their focus on the environmental and being sustainable was fairly obvious, at least for me. The hostel I stayed at was very keen on recycling and composting as well as being very energy efficient. There were a lot of plants everywhere too. I asked the owner a bit about it and she said it was to keep the air as clean as possible, especially with so many people under one roof. They were also very good about their laundry. They washed everything on cold and air dried the sheets and things whenever weather permitted. Outside of the hostel were tons of bikers and walkers. Sure, there were a lot of cars too but from what I could tell most people in cars were tourists or those trying to get much longer distances. Many of the restaurants and cafes I went to also made an effort to recycle or compost. What was most interesting was that I happened to go on the weekend before Earth Day. There was a huge rally/walk, something I was actually able to take part in the year before as well. Both times the crowds were enormous. Interestingly enough the demographics of those in attendance was not just young activists. There were people of all ages, and it seemed the most passionate were the older folks. It really made me think that this environmental awareness is something that is a large part of their culture because I have never seen such a large gathering for an Earth Day event, even here at UVM where we pride ourselves on things like that. I think that might have been a part of why I was so impressed with the environmental culture in Montreal. As a UVMer and proud environmentalist I think sometimes myself and others here get caught up in thinking were the only ones who try to live sustainabley or that we do it the best. That could be our pride getting in the way or the depressive attitude that often comes with thinking about all of the Earth's problems. But the reality is that many others are doing it all over the world and it gave me some hope because it is good to know that there are changes happening globally, and that humans are capable of doing good for the world. It's just a matter of opening our eyes.