Westmount residents are invited to come and enjoy a fun day of learning how to live smart by living green. On Saturday, October 25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. the Westmount Healthy City Project will present a one day event featuring community information and an ideas exchange on sustainable living and ways to make your life greener. At exhibition tables participants will discover services from policing to nutrition and sustainability from lighting to composting kitchen waste.

One of the highlights of the day will be a first time in Westmount bicycle recycling imitative by Cyclo Nord Sud. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. the public is encouraged to bring old bicycles to the event to be refurbished and sent to a developing country. The deal is you take in a used bike and pay $12 as part of the shipping fee. After you have toured the exhibits and enjoyed a light lunch, before you leave you can return to the Cyclo Nord Sud exhibit and pick up a tax receipt for the $12 and for the evaluation of the worth of the bike. Charity founder Claire Morissette set the exchange up so that it would be a win/win. Half the bicycles collected are committed to women and half are committed to people who live in the countryside. So, for example, women hauling water and sticks in the countryside in Togo, Haiti, Latin America and Africa will have some relief from the weight of their chores because of the donated bicycles. For more information go to www.cyclonordsud.org

Coordinated by Barbara Moore chair of the Community Life committee, and Richard Aylett, chair of the Environment committee, the event has been organized to present everything you wanted to know about going green and more.

Claremont Avenue resident Aylett will present how he reduced his home energy consumption by 42 per cent by just making small changes and no major renovations.

Astrophysicist Tony Moffat will present Dark Sky, a look at ways to limit outdoor lighting to reduce light pollution in the night sky. Moffat will set up telescopes and participants will be able to peer into the sky and at the sun. The presentation will be a forerunner to The United Nation’s 2009 Year of Astronomy.

Westmount resident Sue Kazenel will give a presentation on home recycling. Marina Peter from Westmount Public Works will present home composting.

The Raging Grannies will make a presentation at 2 p.m. that will focus on water use issues including the best use of our water and tap water versus bottled water.

Volunteers from the Atwater Library and Computer Centre will do a presentation. L’isle sans fils, the environmental benefits of a wireless Internet community.

Presentations on healthy lifestyles will be given by the CLSC Metro. Joshua Wolfe, sustainability coordinator for city will be on hand to discuss results of his first two discussions on environmental sustainability in Westmount and details of the city’s sustainable development plan.



The Montreal police department will be out in force with tips on how to protect yourself, your identity and your home. The fire department will have tips on how to prevent fires. Westmount Security will be there with booklets and displays about Westmount’s emergency plan and tips on how to create an emergency plan for your household.

Community organizations including the Westmount YMCA, Greene Centre, the Contactivity centre and TAG will also host information tables.

Children will be given a fun opportunity to learn first hand about recycling and found items by participating in a scavenger hunt organized by Westmount facilitator Rosalind Davis.

The City of Westmount’s caterer Simply Wonderful will provide an ecologically and economically sound light lunch at the Café Green on the stage for just $5.

When you have completed the tour of the exhibits, enjoyed the light lunch, and picked up your receipts for your bicycle, you are invited to write your comments, suggestions and ideas for projects on the Ideas Wall. Organized by Lucy Stojak, the wall will be located near the entrance to the exhibition hall. The idea is to get a green dialogue going between the city and the residents.

Before you leave, however, take the stairs down to the Gallery at Victoria Hall and enjoy L’or du bleu in the Victoria Hall Gallery. The unique exhibition features works made with a variety of recycled media created by local Westmount artists. A vernissage where you can meet the artists and preview the work will be held on Wednesday October 22 starting at 6 p.m. L’or Blue will continue until October 25.

For more information about Live Smart Live Green contact Richard Aylett, Environment,

514 486-7686 or Barbara Moore, Community Life, at 514 937-0721.