The MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges will deploy in the coming weeks, a campaign to raise awareness of the population to reduce GHG emissions on its territory.

Since 2017, the MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges has become a member of the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program, a Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) program on GHG mitigation.

Steps 1 to 3 of the program have been completed, namely the development of a GHG emissions inventory, the identification of a reduction target and the adoption of a GHG reduction plan.

Action plan

This campaign is part of the initiatives of the regional GHG reduction action plan carried out in 2019 and whose main objective is to reduce GHG emissions by 13% by 2026, compared to 2016. The regional goal is to reduce 100,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2026 compared to total GHG emissions in 2016.

It is through this exercise that the MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges has identified three simple and concrete actions that will have a real impact on GHG emissions on our territory:

1- Idling

Idling is an eco-driving approach that minimizes the time the engine is running without the car being in motion. On average, a vehicle that idles for 10 minutes will have consumed 0.3 liters of fossil fuel. If all drivers in the MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges turned off their engines, this would mean 6,600 fewer cars on the territory, or 20,000 tCO2eq/year.

2- Carpooling

Transportation represents 76% of the emissions of the MRC Vaudreuil-Soulanges community. Knowing that there are approximately 114,000 drivers in the region who travel 22 km per day, carpooling two days a week for 50 weeks a year would be equivalent to reductions equal to 51 return flights from Montreal to Paris per year, or 30,000 tCO2eq/year.

3- Organic waste collection

Landfilling of residual materials represents 2.4% of GHG emissions in the territory. Diverting one kilogram of waste from landfill through composting reduces emissions from waste management by 0.232 kgCO2eq.

Diverting all organic materials from landfill on the territory of the MRC Vaudreuil-Soulanges is therefore equivalent to planting about 23,700 trees each year, or 5,336 tCO2eq/year.

Each of these actions will be promoted through explanatory texts, relevant data and information in the form of "true or false".

This campaign will be presented through explanatory sheets and publications on Facebook and LinkedIn platforms as well as on the MRC's website at https://mrcvs.ca/citoyens/environnement/ges/.