Blue planet, green ideas | Filled Green wants to do away with plastic bottles

(Richmond) The sticker – displayed in the door and at the cash desk of the Café du Couvent – ​​is discreet, but its message is clear: “Remplis Vert” means that it is possible to refill your water bottle here for free.

Jean-Thomas Léveillé
The Press

A small business established in a large red brick building dating from 1884, which once housed boarders from the Richmond region, the Café du Couvent is an early participant in the initiative that is now spreading throughout Quebec.

Filling Green has the simple objective of reducing the consumption of single-use plastic bottles, explains Mélodie Neveu. She resumed in 2020 with her mother, Marie-Ève ​​Chapdelaine, the initiative launched the previous year by a family from the neighboring city of Windsor, who moved abroad.

“It’s a network of public and private places where you can fill your water bottle,” summarizes the 13-year-old girl. She says all the participating water points are listed on an interactive map on the internet – a task delegated to her younger brother.

Of course, it is theoretically possible to ask for water everywhere, but the habit is not anchored in North America, notes Marie-Ève ​​Chapdelaine.

“People are embarrassed to go to the shops [demander de l’eau]they feel like they’re begging,” she says.

By appearing as participants in Filling Green, businesses contribute to breaking down “this first barrier”, explains the one who works as a sustainable development advisor at Cascades.

Cafes, pharmacies, clothing stores

Filled Green is not limited to food businesses; Among the participants are pharmacies, convenience stores, training centers or performance halls, such as the Center d’arts de Richmond, also established in the former convent.

“It doesn’t need to be complicated, we don’t need to go play in the pipes,” says Marie-Ève ​​Chapdelaine, who gives the example of a clothing store that simply places a pitcher of fresh water on the counter.

The only condition of participation for the businesses consists in not requiring anything in exchange for a filling.

With amusing slogans such as “Filling is wise”, “Don’t mess up, bring your bottle” or “Fill your glass, save your Earth”, Fill Green wants to democratize the filling of reusable bottles, as it is now common to carry around a reusable coffee cup in a store.

Cities join the movement

After the shops, Filled vert wanted to extend the initiative to public places.

The Neveu-Chapdelaine family therefore presented themselves to the Richmond City Council to present their project and solicit the City’s participation.

“My children were so stressed! “recalls Marie-Ève ​​Chapdelaine.

Their presentation hit the mark, so much so that the City boarded, installed four outdoor fountains and had signs made to advertise them.

Richmond has even obtained the “blue community” certification, an education and awareness campaign coordinated by the organization Eau Secours, which invites communities to get involved in the cause of water.

Difficult pandemic

Born just before the pandemic, Filling Green experienced modest growth, mainly in Estrie, Montérégie, Centre-du-Québec and Mauricie.

“With COVID, it was not easy, because almost all the filling points were closed,” says Mélodie Neveu.

Mother and daughter hope the initiative will now spread faster, with a little help.

“It often takes someone who will open the door to their region for us, when we are not present. […]it works by contact,” explains Marie-Ève ​​Chapdelaine, who aspires to cover the entire Francophonie.

It is already certain that Filling Green will cross the Atlantic to land in France, where a network of restaurateurs is interested.

Filled Green declined requests from English Canada, due to lack of time and resources, particularly for translation, and preferred to join forces with BlueW, a similar existing initiative.

Because Fill Green is a small non-profit organization (NPO) that aspires to remain so; her only income comes from the sale of stickers and covers little more than their costs and postage, explain the mother and daughter.

“We would like to raise a small cushion to promote, to make ourselves better known,” wishes all the same Marie-Ève ​​Chapdelaine, who made a first request for sponsorship in April.

A Drummondville communications agency is also giving the organization a helping hand, particularly for the recent overhaul of its website.