Can you be green when you live in the suburbs, the kingdom of solo cars, green lawns and Costco? It’s difficult, but not impossible, argues Montrealer Maude Carmel, who moved to Chambly with the aim of keeping her eco-responsible habits. In a book to be released Wednesday, she offers her advice on how to do just that, hoping to encourage suburbanites to rethink their way of life.
“Today, I am surely more eco-friendly in my suburbs than many Montrealers,” Maude Carmel proudly says in an interview. But it requires more effort and a lot of willpower. Here, everything is designed for you to take your car, it’s hard to resist. »
It’s been almost three years since the columnist and content creator left her beloved metropolis to settle in the southern crown. She remembers very well the day she arrived in her new bungalow, in June 2021, with cardboard boxes — used of course — in her arms, prejudices in her head. “I snubbed suburban life,” she admits. The suburbs seem to go with a way of life where everything comes in “bigs”: the huge new four-story house, the large unused fenced lot, three or four cars, eighteen doors, the big grocery stores at Costco… […] I want to lead a life that is content with little. »
Her desire to start a family and have her own garden, however, encouraged her to take up the challenge of combining her ecological values with this suburban life. Month by month, for a year, she carefully documented her journey to get there and made it the subject of her very first book.
Halfway between an environmental essay and a diary, Diary of an environmentalist in the suburbs is intended to be an inspirational guide for those who would like to become more eco-responsible without knowing where to start. Through her own experience, her mistakes and her victories, Maude Carmel offers her thoughts, but above all her daily tips and tricks to achieve this: where to find used moving boxes, how to make your own Halloween decorations and gifts Christmas, how to make your compost, your own vegetable garden and avoid food waste. It is also a question of local purchasing – and ideally in bulk -, the second-hand economy and of course active and collective transport.
“I don’t want to make people feel guilty or make them afraid and discouraged. I want to show, on the contrary, that we can live in the suburbs differently, one small gesture at a time, each at their own pace, each with their limits. […] We cannot be 100% green in today’s society,” maintains the author.
All by car
According to Maude Carmel, the most difficult thing in the suburbs is the dependence on the car which results directly from the way in which the territory is developed, by constantly promoting urban sprawl and dormitory towns. Whether to buy bread, pick up medicine at the pharmacy or even get to work, the car is becoming essential, due to a lack of effective options.
“In the suburbs, no matter the destination, it’s always quicker to take your car than to go there by bike or by bus. And in a society where our way of life is dictated by optimizing our time, when you work 40 to 50 hours a week, I understand that the number one option is the car,” says the young woman.
She herself has finally given in since the arrival of her first child in 2022 – the birth of the second being expected in two months. His house may be less than 20 minutes on foot or by bike from the main services, but 75% of his trips are now made by car. “I try to incorporate walking and public transit on weekends, I want these modes of transportation to be fun and attractive options in my children’s minds. I’m also going to take up cycling when they’re older,” she says.
Way to go
In the eyes of Maude Carmel, it is urgent that public authorities assume their share of responsibility to help and above all convince citizens, particularly suburbanites, to adopt a more eco-responsible lifestyle. “For example, when we give citizens different ways of getting around, which cost them less in the long term, which prevent them from buying a second car, which allow them to travel to work, without having to do too much compromise on the time it takes, they often respond in the affirmative,” she writes.
The author also supports solutions already in place in other countries, such as a financial reward to encourage carpooling, more, more frequent and free public transport, or even penalties for motorists who pollute the most or travel alone on the highway.
While waiting for decision-makers to “wake up”, she believes that citizens can take concrete action by adopting small daily gestures and using space differently. “For me, it’s an act of optimism. As more and more people adopt a more eco-responsible lifestyle, we will push governments to act differently. »