Ready, set, recycle: 50 Rosemont families take on zero waste challenge

For the next five months,Kelsey Dancauseand her family will beon a mission to reduce their household waste.

They volunteered for the second edition of RosemontLa Petite-Patrie's Zero Waste Challenge and were selected as one of 50 families to takepart in the challenge.

Participants will have access to support from experts tohelp them in waste-reduction strategies, as well as workshops and a community of others with the same goal.

According to the borough, last year's participants reduced their waste by 51 per cent in five months.

For Dancause, who has two young children, she's making the challengea family affair.

She told CBC's Let's Gothat inan effort to reduce, as she plansone of her children'sbirthday parties, she's put the word out to other parents that recycled gifts are A-OK.

"It's kind of silly to ask parents to spend their time and money to go out to buy gifts when actually we have books and puzzles and toys lying around that kids could very happilyshare," she said.

Living in Rosemont,Dancausesaid, they've been fortunate to be able to compost and recycle with relative ease and to havewaste-conscious stores to shop atin the area.

"WheneverI buy rice or noodles or little things like that, i'ts not so difficult for me to take a jar or a container and fill it up at one of the stores in the neighbourhood," she said.

Changing habits

Another Rosemont resident,Jean-Franois Leblanc, is taking on the zero waste challenge with his family in order to adopt better habits.

He said he's hoping the challenge will make his family "more aware of general consumption" and encourage them to change their habits.

"When we go to the grocery store, we buy things we know we will cook or consume in the nextdays," he said.

"We are just trying to find new ways to understand betterwhat is specifically recyclable, or what we can put in the composting bin."

Participants are also being encouraged to rely on one another for ideas and tips, and Leblanc said he's found theprivate Facebook group dedicated to the challenge a great place for inspiration.

RosemontLa Petite-Patrie MayorFranoisWilliam Croteausaid in a release that the borough was so pleased with the results of the first challenge that they wanted to harness residents'enthusiasmfor another go.

He said that the borough was inspired to take measures in its own offices to reduce waste and to become more conscious of their ecological footprint.