Environment | Eco-friendly grandparents little by little

Green initiatives to improve the environment are multiplying on a small and large scale, all over the province. Twice a month, our journalists present ideas to inspire you.

Catherine Handfield
The Press

Marjolaine Chassé and Guy Rivest are not perfect.

They bought themselves an electric car last winter, but they still don’t dare part with their Subaru (“at some point, we’re going to get rid of it!”). Even though they cook tofu and legumes, they still have a weakness for Marjoram’s meat sauce. The couple makes a confession to us: at home, in the countryside, they collect dead wood on their land to make firewood.

In an interview, Marjolaine almost regrets that Guy told us about this story of dead wood. “Some people will say: “Ah! they heat with wood!” “, she fears. No, people won’t be judgmental (will they, reader?), because if you wait to be perfect before doing something for the environment, you’ll be waiting a lifetime.

Over the past ten years, Marjolaine and Guy have changed a lot of little things in their lifestyle, very slowly, gradually. They want to serve as role models for their seven grandchildren, aged 6 months to 16 years. And they also want to do something, on their scale, to clean up the environment. “Our children will be affected, says Guy, 69, but the worst are our grandchildren and their children. »

Marjolaine and Guy tackled the two sectors that produce the most greenhouse gas emissions in Quebec households: transportation (they mainly use their electric car) and food (they eat less meat and take source of food). Another big chunk: they fly less often, but for longer trips.

The couple from Lanaudière are also careful to reduce their consumption at the source, by all sorts of means.

Clothes, for example. “It’s been years since I’ve seen Marjolaine buy a dress,” says Guy. Marjoram nods. “What I have on my back, it’s all given,” she says.

Another example: toilet paper. When her daughter got a bidet, Marjolaine announced to Guy: “We’re installing a bidet. The Guy in question was initially reluctant, but faced with a fait accompli, “he was very happy”, says Marjolaine laughing.

And before buying a new item, they think twice. Their last cell phone, they kept it for six years. Their 20-year-old washer? They had it repaired. They buy in bulk and wholesale, to limit packaging. It’s Guy who makes his grandchildren’s beds, with real wood, and not plywood which will sag during the first move.

Marjolaine wants to remain optimistic. She believes in people.

“I trust the new generation,” she says.

Guy, he is a little less.

Would he like to get involved politically? “I was never an activist, but for the environment, I should have. And I should,” Guy says.

“I heard you…” Marjolaine tells him, laughing.

One step at a time, gradually.