Everyone has a role in sustaining Westmount, Marks tells WMA

Addressing members of the Westmount Municipal Association at the Westmount Public Library on Tuesday evening on the Challenges of a Sustainable Westmount, Marks said the common definition today of urban sustainability includes environmental issues more than ever.

But the issue also focuses on safe streets, easily accessible public transit, healthy activity and nutrition, and empowerment through local government. And just as provincial and federal governments and organizations like the United Nations are now encouraging sustainability, she said municipal governments also have to do their part.

"Sustainability requires that we, collectively and individually, alter the way we live and the way we see our needs," said Marks. "It will happen person by person and door by door. And who better to encourage such change and adapt to it than municipal government?"

Marks said she likes to think that a sustainable community is continually adjusting to meet the social, cultural and economic needs of its residents, while preserving the environment's ability to support it. "How do we do that in Westmount?" she asked. The first step the City has taken is to create a defined plan.

"If you don't set a target for your destination, how will you know when you get there or if you have achieved it?" Marks said that after having determined that environmental responsibility was a common value shared by most Westmounters, the City took the time to establish a number of sustainability priorities.

"Perservation of heritage was another common value and we're discussing sustainability issues in the urban plan. The questions and choices to be made on the refurbishing of the playing fields or on the reconstruction of the arena relate to different aspects of sustainability. We need to have an active community, to maintain green spaces, to diminish water consumption."

Marks said some other areas that must be included among the priorities are minimizing consumption of natural resources and living within ecological limits. "I think in Westmount we have gone a long way with our legislation on the prohibition of pesticides, the tremendous participation in recycling, our anti-idling bylaws and our e-waste disposal, to mention a few."