Zero waste festival wants more Montrealers to embrace sustainable living

Local efforts to reduce waste in Montreal are being celebrated and shared at this weekend's Zero Waste Festival, happening at Marché Bonsecours in Old Montreal.

The festival, happening for the first time this year, will feature about 50 exhibitors and numerous workshops — including growing sprouts, making deodorant, toothpaste, soaps and more.

"It's a positive movement," said organizer Audrey Mougenot. "It's about doing something that is possible."

Entry is free, but some of the workshops cost money.

Zero waste is a movement which seeks to reduce how many things end up in the landfill. Primarily, it aims to reduce the use of packaging and encourages recycling and composting.

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Festival co-founder, Florence-Léa Siry, said that despite what some people think, the Zero Waste movement doesn't expect everyone to be an extremist in their habits.

"If you do something, one day at a time, you can help," Siry told CBC Montreal's Radio Noon.

Siry says that it's important for individuals to work towards waste reduction in their lives so that companies and stores will follow.

"As a citizen you have to take a stand and then the companies will hear you, and in a few years they will change their way," Siry said.

Montrealers work to reduce waste

Jean-François Archambault, the founder of La Tablée des Chefs, a group that recovers food and redistributes it, said that as a chef he's seen that about 30 per cent of the food in restaurants comes back to the kitchen untouched.

He said that, out of respect for everyone from the cooks to the farmers, the food should be eaten.

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His team has been working for 10 years collecting food from places where it isn't touched and redistributing it.

About 70,000 people are fed annually from the nine tons of food recovered from the executive suite at the Bell Centre, he said.

He works in conjunction with the Welcome Hall Mission to distribute that food to hungry people.

Dietician Robin Glance lives in the West Island with her family and tries to reduce waste where she can.

The family has been trying to ditch disposable containers and go with reusable ones.

"My son is now quite aware of it," Glance said. "It is nice to start the conversation young."