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Clean Transportation

The activities related to our transportation represent a surprising proportion of our production of greenhouse gases (GHGs). In Quebec, the transportation sector is the main source of emissions of greenhouse gas emissions, with 38% of total emissions. Urban transport accounts for 45% of motorists in this sector so that transport intercity represent 9%.

Some behaviors to reduce GHG emissions by car:
• Observe speed limits. With most vehicles, moving from a cruising speed of 100 km / h to 120 km / h increases by about 20% of fuel consumption and shorten tire life.
• Never run the engine at idle. After a stop of more than 10 seconds, it is more economical and environmentally friendly to turn off the engine. It's proven!
• Reduce use of air conditioning. This increases fuel consumption by 20%. Open windows instead!
• Maintain your vehicle through regular maintenance checks fast, which ensures the effective functioning of emission control systems and helps burn fuel optimally. Under-inflated tires can increase up to 10% fuel consumption and your spending spare tires.
• Avoid using remote car starter. If you must use it, remember that 20 to 30 seconds is enough. Do not start and then forget it! The engine actually warms that when driving.
• When next car purchase, choosing a car energy efficient. Things like four-wheel drive, AWD, the vehicle weight and tire size have significant impact on fuel consumption. Choose a vehicle of appropriate size to use that you'll also find out and consider the choice of a hybrid car.
• just reduce your car use. This way, you can enjoy the transport to read a good book and multiply the opportunities to stay fit as walking in your neighborhood. Your lungs and those of our planet it will much better!

Alternatives to the car solo
• Active transportation (cycling, walking, rollerblading, skateboarding)
• Transit (subway, bus, train)
• Carpool ( www.amigoexpress.com )
Links:
• Centre québécois action on climate change: www.changementsclimatiques.qc.ca / tools
• Transport Canada, on the road of sustainable transport: www.tc.gc.ca / programs / environment / most / suggestions.htm
• Office of Energy Efficiency: http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/transports/personnel/index.cfm?attr=0

Energy efficiency

Canadians are recognized internationally for their consumption of energy, even compared with other Nordic countries.

In Quebec, the heating represents 60% of energy costs related to our homes, followed by household appliances (20%), hot water (16%) and lighting (4%). Reduce your energy costs related to heating or air conditioning can reduce your bills and reduce your production életricité greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). For example, minor works better sealing around doors and windows (installation of window and cons of weatherstripping, caulking or installing plastic film) can reduce up to 15% on your heating bill.

Just as the construction of dams or wind, energy efficiency is a potential source of energy, since energy saved can be used in another sector, or even exported and sold. Everyone's efforts in terms of energy efficiency can help produce enough negawatts collectively to avoid construction of new hydroelectric dams, producers of greenhouse gases.

Here are some actions to save energy at home:
• Lower your thermostat by 3 degrees at night and when no one is home for several hours.
• Wash clothes in cold water and spread the garments on the clothesline instead of using the dryer.
• Turn off the light, television or the computer when finished using them.
• Use curtains on the windows so as to let the sun in the winter and block it during the hot summer days.
• Reduce the thermostat on the water heater to reduce its energy needs.
• Buy appliances with the Energy Star label! which are more efficient in terms of energy efficiency.

Links:
• Agency for Energy Efficiency (provincial): www.aee.gouv.qc.ca
• Office of Energy Efficiency (federal): oee.nrcan.gc.ca / residential / personal / index.cfm 0

Waste Management

The 3R-V represent four alternatives to counter the accumulation of material in landfills.
• Reduce the source, think before you buy, do not overpack and overconsumption to generate less waste.
• Reuse means using a second time a product to increase its lifespan. Think of the treasures that lie behind the thrift store, the basement or the garage! It also reuse plastic containers for other purposes, such as carrying his lunch.
• Recycling is the transformation of material to manufacture new products and thus reduce the extraction of new raw materials. It is for us to choose recyclable products and especially to recycle!
• Value is composted organic matter or recover biogas from landfills.

Composting
Most table scraps to compost: fruit and vegetables, coffee grounds, egg shells, tea bags, etc.. By cons, dairy products, meat, fish and salad dressings are not recommended. It is important to mix food scraps with yard waste or leaves to obtain maximum efficiency. Visit www.compost.org to learn more about home composting.

Eco-Centres
Dispose safely and environmentally your household hazardous waste (HHW). The groundwater and soil contamination can be when, for example, batteries, paints and solvents are thrown away like ordinary garbage. In Montreal, Eco-centers collect these hazardous household waste, and much more! The majority of waste that does not go to the trash or green bin are accepted in the Eco-center, which will reuse, recycle or get rid of them ecologically.

All materials are accepted:
• bulbs and dead batteries
• Old computers and appliances
• expired drugs
• Aerosol cans, paint, solvents, oils
• wood, bricks, tires
• dead branches, grass clippings, Christmas trees
• used clothing, old bikes, etc..

For more information on Eco-six centers in Montreal, visit: www.eco-quartier.ca/Eco-centre.htm
To find organizations in other regions of Quebec working in this area, visit: www.recyc-quebec.gouv.qc.ca

Water Consumption
One in four on the planet currently has no access to drinking water quality.
Every year, diseases related to consumption of unsafe drinking water are between 5 and 10 million victims. In Quebec, we are fortunate to have unlimited access to quality water flowing directly from our taps. We have to be careful and use it wisely!
Domestic uses of water in Canada are: baths and showers, 35%; toilet, 30%; laundry, 20%; drinking and cooking, 10% clean, 5%.

Bath and shower
• Take a quick shower instead of taking a bath will save up to 50% of your water!
• Get a shower head low flow, it reduces the amount of water without reducing the quality of the shower.
• Avoid unnecessary stay in the shower and feel free to stop the water when you lather! Some shower heads have a stop button that allows you to stop the water without you hate it to adjust the temperature and flow every time.

Toilet
• You can make significant water savings by changing your conventional toilet, which uses about 18 liters per flush compared to new models that use only 6 liters!
• You can also file a weighted bottle and closed in the tank to reduce the amount of water needed to fill it.
• Make sure your toilet tank is not leaking. To ensure this, place a few drops of food coloring in the tank and wait 15 minutes. If the color has reached your tank, your tank is leaking. A leak that fills a cup in 10 minutes will waste 8,000 gallons of water per year ...
• The simplest gesture to save water is obviously to avoid hunting water unnecessarily!

Uses external
• It is not necessary to use potable water for watering plants, lawn or cleaning the car. You can instead use the rainwater, which can be easily collected in a bucket, a barrel or a rain collector as Rain Saver ( www.alter-eco.ca ).
• Use a broom rather than a garden hose to clean your driveway or your gone. A hose debit 1000 liters per hour, that is to say how much water a person drinks in 3 years!
• When you wash your car, fill a bucket of water and use a sponge. This will save about 300 gallons of water.
• Over 50% of the water used to irrigate lawns and gardens is lost due to evaporation or runoff caused by overwatering. Determine how much water your lawn really needs and water early in the morning to avoid evaporation. Most lawns and gardens require only 2 or 3 cm (one inch) of water per week.

These are good habits to protect our blue planet! For more information on ways to reduce your water consumption, visit: http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residentiel/personnel/maisons-neuves/conservation-eau.cfm?attr=4

Responsible consumption
The J-3N are four concepts that we should always keep in mind when we consume food, or any other property, to do it in an environmentally and producers.

• Nu: The products we buy are often unnecessarily over packaged. It is important to ensure that those containers are recyclable, putting them in recycling or reuse, but most importantly, choose products with less packaging such products sold in bulk. Transporter purchases in a cloth bag also reduces the amount of packaging. Half of our waste is actually made up of packaging!
• Not far: What we eat often comes from far away as Costa Rica's banana, kiwi fruit from New Zealand, Brazilian coffee, etc.. Pollution related to transport our food is increasingly important on a truck carrying three foods! The solution: to promote local products and local products, encourage local businesses, shop at the public market, having its own garden, reduce consumption of fruits and vegetables out of season and exotic products to travel several thousands of kilometers before up in our plate.
• Natural: It is simply to buy certified organic or at least without genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
• Fair: If you buy a certified product fair, a greater proportion of the price we pay back to the communities that produce them, helping them organize into cooperatives, to develop and escape poverty. Our health, the health of workers and the environment is also respected for sustainable agriculture (without chemicals) is a priority for the trade fair. It is also to learn and to avoid encouraging multinational companies who seek profit above all to the detriment of people's health and the environment. Chocolate, coffee, hot chocolate, sugar, tea and rice are all fair trade products readily available in Quebec. For more information visit www.transfair.ca .

Our home hygiene also has a significant impact on the environment and our health.

Many cleaning products contain toxic chemicals and can be easily replaced by natural products and biodegradable. For revenue alternatives to household products, visit the website of Greenpeace Canada: www.greenpeace.ca / f / a_vous_dagir / trucs_astuces / recettes.php

"Averting the Climate
The term "preventive for Climate" was developed by a biologist Québec, Mr. Claude Villeneuve, director of the Research Chair and response Eco-Council of the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi: "Sustainable development encourages us suggests intergenerational equity. By offsetting double the emissions of greenhouse gases attributable to our activities we contribute to the wrongs of the past while giving some leeway for future generations to adapt to the impacts of climate change. "
This is why, in order to become better environmental citizens, the Earth Day encourages gestures "for preventive climate.

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