Urban Solutions For Greener Surroundings

Urban Solutions For Greener Surroundings

May 29 is an important date for all MileEnders looking for a little gardening fun. At 9:00 am this morning, the borough was handing out petunias, impatients, marigolds, perennials and compost, free of charge to residents with proof of address. This is all part of the borough's beautification campaign. Unfortunately, I arrived at 9:20 and found myself at the end of the long line that snaked around the entire periphery of Parc Lahaie.

While I waited with other residents, I overheard some delicious news. In front of the Saint-Enfant-Jesus Church, Saint-Dominique is going to become a pedestrian street with access only to service vehicles, effective June 7. The pedestrian street will become home to a produce market every Thursday from 3:30 to 8:30pm starting on June 17.

Does anyone know...Will this market have organic produce?

The borough has also spearheaded a vine initiative to discourage taggers from defacing public and private property. Residents and business owners who register with the borough will be given vines to grow as wall covering in order to dissuade "aspiring artists." This makes for more greenery and less gribouillage, or scribbling, from the should-know-betters. Yes, I'm a fan of graffiti, and there are plenty of talented artists who make our neighbourhoods more beautiful, but the tagging, like what we find along Fairmount East is hideous and an eyesore (Sorry, sounding old).


Lastly, the City has given up on recycling bins and now wants us to use transparent or opaque biodegradable bags, and recyclables in regular orange, green and black garbage bags will NOT be picked up. All I can say is "Enfin!" Common sense did not prevail in this neck of the woods. Too many people were unable to grasp the seemingly simplistic concept that when newspapers were put on top of bottles, they blew away....

Oh yes, and the flowers. Patiently waiting for my impatients, I only stood in line for a few minutes before I realized that there were not going to be enough flowers to go around. Looking every bit the gardening enthusiast, Plateau Mont-Royal Mayor Luc Fernandez came over to break the bad news--we were S.O.L. this year. There weren't enough plants to go around. (Notice the "no more" hand signals he's making). I'll have to wait until next year.


Other Hood-Related Posts:
Curios With an Eastern European Twist
Mile End Summer Flavour--Hibiscus
A Summer Ride For Summer Weather (Take my poll)
Our City Back-to-the-Land-Organic Farmer
For the Vegan in You



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