The Peter-McGill branch of the environment group Éco-Quartier has appointed Mathieu Murphy-Perron, Concordia’s current VP Loyola and Sustainability, as their liaison to Concordia University. The collaboration hopes to motivate Concordia students to help improve the downtown area.
“I feel it’s wonderful that the relationship between Eco-Quartier and Concordia continues to grow, and I’m happy to be involved,” said Perron.
“We are striving to improve the attractiveness of downtown Montreal living, while raising consciousness of the effect of our way of life on the environment,” explained Paul-Antoine Troxler, general coordinator for Eco-Quartier Peter-McGill.
Eco-Quartier is an environmental action program, which was founded in 1995 in an initiative by the city of Montreal to improve its residents’ quality of life. The organization follows four main principles: recycling, cleanliness, beautification, and re-naturalization. The Peter-McGill branch was created in 1997 to serve the Montreal’s downtown area, also known as Ville-Marie. It conducts sensitization campaigns through its website in order to get downtown’s residents informed on ways to make the downtown area a more pleasant place to live in. It also puts emphasis on the three “Rs”- recycle, reuse and reduce.
In the past few months, the organization has received $50,000 from the Ville-Marie borough to operate its various programs. In order to ensure that the money will be well managed, the borough’s administration passed the sum to the CSU, which then appointed Perron to handle the transaction.
The organization carries out several projects such as the creation of green alleys by the planting of trees and flowers to beautify the area.
Montreal communities are diverse, and all of them face different environmental issues. There are about 32 Eco-Quartier offices located in Montreal’s various boroughs. They all share the same principles, but offer different programs. The Concordia Student Union will be the designated organization for the downtown area.
Perron believes that a good way for students to contribute is to find ways to link their field of study to the promotion of sustainable development and ecology. One of the projects carried out by Eco-Quartier is the creation of murals to promote cleanliness, discourage unsolicited graffiti, and beautify the downtown area. This project is well suited for Fine Arts students who can express their creativity, while engaging in an environmental-friendly activity.
“Concordia is among the universities that have the most environmental programs,” said Perron, adding that they are always looking for more volunteers.
Log on to sustainable.concordia.ca to find out about Concordia’s sustainable group, and www.eco-quartierpm.org for Eco-Quartier Peter-McGill.
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