Earth Day contest winners

Here are our winners and their comments:

Going green

Our family has gone green this year. We have two blue boxes underneath the kitchen table: one for paper, one for glass and plastic. When the boxes were in the garage, the kids wouldn't walk there to fill them. Now that they're in the kitchen, recycling is in sight and easier to do. We changed all the household light bulbs and use only rechargeable batteries. Since we have three teenage boys, rechargeable batteries are a must. I bought green plastic grocery boxes at Loblaw's instead of using plastic bags. They hold more food and are easy to carry. I plan to learn how to compost since we already have a compost bin in our yard. My husband installed a solar catcher on the fence in our yard that warms up our pool water in the summer without a pump or electricity. It works really well and the boys enjoy setting it up every spring.

Debra Barry

Pierrefonds



Environmentally friendly

At home we recycle and reuse whatever possible. I have bought 10 cloth reusable grocery bags and use only that when I do the groceries. We do the laundry in cold water. Showers are kept to a maximum of five minutes each (we are four in the house). The dishwasher is only started when absolutely full. All of our thermostats for the heating are programmable, therefore set at 17 degrees at night and when we're not in the house. The laundry soap and softener are ‘ultra,’ and therefore do more loads per bottle. We carpool to work and school. We use select-a-size paper towels. We turn off the running water when brushing our teeth. I read The Chronicle online. Clothes that we no longer wear are given to charity organizations instead of thrown out.

We try our best to be environmentally friendly where ever we possibly can.

Susan Hawey

Île Perrot

Recycling time

My family and I recycle all the time, and now I am trying to buy cleaning products that are good for the environment. If everyone would do this the world would be better.

Rachel Guenin

Dollard des Ormeaux