The Green and Blue Patrols are back in town
Two young members of the Green Patrol.
The Green and Blue Patrols will be running again this summer. They will inform and educate citizens about major environmental issues in order to accelerate Montreal's ecological transition.
“The patrollers are in direct contact with the citizens. They are on the ground and aware of the reality of people. These are people who are very accessible, who are motivated and who want to create change in their community”, testifies the project manager of the Regroupement des écoquartiers (REQ), Alice Herischi.
The Patrols will be present in almost all of Montreal's 19 boroughs, except Anjou, Ahuntsic-Cartierville and Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension. They will also go to six related cities: Beaconsfield, Kirkland, Côte-Saint-Luc, Mont-Royal, Westmount and Montreal East.
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The Green Patrol is an environmental awareness brigade, which has existed since 2005. This year, it will be active from May 30 to August 19.
Its four mandates are waste management, promotion and protection of the urban forest, good behaviors to adopt in parks and preparation for heat waves in nine specific neighborhoods, says Ms. Herischi. Other local mandates will be specific to each neighborhood.
The Blue Patrol, meanwhile, deals with water-related issues and will be active until August 19. It encourages citizens to exchange their old showerheads for new ones with reduced flow, in all boroughs that have an eco-district.
It will also assess the situation of Montreal's gutters in order to understand how rainwater are directed. In addition, it intends to raise citizens' awareness of drinking water management in related towns, according to the REQ project manager.
Operation of the Green and Blue Patrols
The patrollers are people between the ages of 15 and 30, who want to have an impact on the environment and in their community. A specific territory is assigned to each of them during the summer.
Patrollers educate citizens in different ways, by going door-to-door or distributing leaflets, for example. They will also be present at public events.
About 60,000 citizens were made aware last year.
This initiative is aligned with the Montréal 2030 strategic plan and is managed by the REQ. It was made possible by the contribution of the City, the involvement of the boroughs and related cities and the Canada Summer Jobs program.
The boroughs involved in raising awareness of heat waves: Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, LaSalle, Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Montréal-Nord, Plateau-Mont-Royal, Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie, Saint-Laurent, Sud-Ouest and Ville-Marie.
