| Environmental Columns
2024 Quebec Waste Reduction Week
The 2024 Québec Waste Reduction Week, or Semaine québécoise de réduction des déchets (SQRD), is an annual campaign, organized by Zéro Déchets Québec, that endorses and promotes proper waste management and the reduction of consumption at the source.
This year’s theme of ‘Consume less, but better’ refers to the need to both consume and produce less single-use goods that end up in our landfills, while also ensuring the proper disposal these various materials.
Eco-Nico: Reducing at the source, what does that even mean? Great question! The term reducing at the source means eliminating the waste before its even created. This signifies using greener alternatives, less single-use plastics and less toxic materials that are eventually thrown away in our local landfills. Reducing at the source is great because it stops these polluting materials from ever being produced. | ![]() |
According to the campaign, there are 13 million tonnes of residual materials produced every single year in Québec, and 5.4 million tonnes of it ends up in local landfills or in incinerators. To significantly lower our consumption and production of harmful waste, we must adopt the ecological 5Rs: refuse, reduce, reuse/repair, recycle and rot.
Taking matters, and waste, into our own hands
By refusing to purchase single-use goods, by reducing your consumption of these goods, and by reusing and repairing items that are still in working shape to extend the good’s life are all effective ways of reducing waste at the source.
The other two actions, recycling and rot, are methods of properly disposing of items to mitigate their effect on the environment. By starting an at-home compost, you can turn organic goods into nutrient rich soil for your lawn and garden.
Refusing to purchase single-use plastic water bottles and instead opting to use a water filter is another great way of reducing at the source.
This campaign hopes to mobilize citizens to lower the consumption of single-use items and prompt ecological waste management habits not just for this week, but on a consistent basis. By integrating some of these actions into your routine, you are contributing to real positive change for our environment.
To learn more about this campaign and its objectives, visit their website (French). There are also several resources on the City’s website, including the environmental columns The third R: reuse/repair and Not everything is garbage: the importance of proper waste management.