Montreal’s SAESEM (Société pour l’action, l’éducation et la sensibilisation environnementale de Montreal) is a non-profit organization dedicated to implementing environmental projects to protect the environment and improve the quality of life of Montrealers.
The non-profit SAESEM strives for a responsible society towards the environment, constantly develops new ideas to adapt and anticipate new needs and realities and maintains close relationships with residents and community stakeholders.
Some of the services SAESEM offers to the communities in Montreal include:
SAESEM Community Action and Environmental Accountability Programs
This is in tandem with the Eco-quartier programs that encourage Montrealers to improve their community’s quality and reduce the environmental impact of their way of life. SAESEM and Eco-quartier focus on greening and beautifying neighbourhoods with green alleys, flower distributions, and tree planting. They offer multiple waste management programs and eco-responsible community events, volunteer work, cleanup activities and more.
Trash2Treasure – Collection of Furniture
This program aims to reduce the landfill of furniture and household objects. During the moving season, May, June and October, SAESEM organizes carbon-neutral collections of these items and redistributes them to people in need. Many items get thrown on the side of the road during moving periods, as people may not want or be unable to take them with them. SAESEM offers an important service to ensure these items don’t end up in landfills. In 2022, 6.15 tonnes of materials were collected on the streets or from citizens, and 100% of the materials collected were recycled by finding a second life. That same year, over 150 citizens participated in the program by donating their items.
Megot Zero – Cigarette butt recycling
This program offers a service of ashtrays implantation in the public and private domain to recycle cigarette butts. The purpose of these projects is to reduce the number of cigarette butts thrown on the ground, remove the butts from the ground, and recycle them through a cigarette butt recycling centre. They offer these ashtrays in streets, at businesses, for events, and even to individual citizens, all to avoid people throwing them on the ground.
Environmental Education
This program offers workshops and training to schools, companies and organizations to help people take part in their environmental mission. In schools, they work to help students develop critical thinking, instil creativity and sensitivity toward natural work and provide them with skills in urban agriculture. Some of their workshops include planting bee-friendly plants, planting vegetable gardens, developing zero-waste lunch boxes and more. For ompanies, they offer programs to create better environmental practices at work. Some of their workshops include waste sorting, food waste basics, and more.
Over all, it is a perfect example of an organization working with the community to reduce its impact on the planet. Their services offer innovative ways for people to get involved and learn more about reducing their impact. It is the efforts like those from SAESEM that will help us to build community involvement and improve our environmental quality of life.