This text is part of the special Environment section
Energy allows us to feed ourselves, to move around, to heat ourselves, to build, to manufacture: it is at the heart of our daily lives. But energy consumption has consequences. This is called the energy footprint. And it is this that we must reduce without further delay.
On a day-to-day basis, what has the most impact on our energy footprint is where we live and how much travel we make. Our residential buildings and our personal trips consume more than a third of all the energy used in Quebec.
These two aspects are interrelated. Where we live is where our daily journeys begin. A place that can be close or far from other places that we frequent, in a district more or less well equipped with transport networks, which can give, or not, the choice between several modes with unequal energy footprints.
Make decisive decisions
The Reducing our footprint campaign, led by Vivre en Ville, provides information and raises awareness about the energy footprint of our choices in terms of where we live and how we move around. How can we reduce our footprint? What can we gain from it, personally and collectively? Reducing our footprint presents the most decisive choices, on an individual and collective scale, and their benefits for a greater quality of life.
The campaign thus highlights ten priority choices to be made to reduce our energy footprint. Because if many public and private actors have a role to play in the energy transition, at their level, citizens can also make decisive decisions to reduce their footprint.
The goal of reducing our footprint is rallying more and more cities, organizations from all walks of life, and citizens. This growing mobilization responds to the call to action of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which recently affirmed the significant potential of actions in land use planning, transport and food.
Reducing energy demand in these areas would reduce the carbon footprint by 40 to 70% by 2050, compared to today. For the IPCC, this transformation of lifestyles would support the preservation of natural resources and the improvement of the quality of life.
A pan-Quebec tour
From summer 2022 until spring 2023, the Reduce our footprint tour will stop in more than ten cities in Quebec. From the Foire en ville in Shawinigan to the Fête du vélo in Sherbrooke, the team will meet Quebecers with an interactive exhibition.
In partnership with the regional environmental councils, Vivre en Ville will open the discussion, at each stage of the tour, on possible actions to reduce our footprint. And this, by addressing both personal choices and the collective transformations necessary to meet the imperative of the energy transition.
The individual and collective choices we make today have an impact on the future, particularly on the climate. They can also improve our quality of life.
Reducing our footprint means participating in the energy transition.
Join the movement!
Launched and coordinated by Vivre en Ville with the collaboration of many partners, the Reduce our footprint campaign is made possible thanks to the financial participation of the Government of Quebec.