Waste management amid Moving Day weekend in Montreal

Each year in Montreal, 115,000 moves take place between June and July. And during this time, close to 50,000 tons of assorted objects are collected and discarded.

With the big July 1 Moving Day approaching, many movers have trash and unwanted items they aren’t sure what to do with.

“It’s chaos in the streets, furniture everywhere, mattresses, sofas, TVs, it’s madness,” said one Montrealer.

Philippe Sabourin, a spokesperson for City of Montreal, advises movers to keep in mind the day of the pickup for their trash.

“We’re asking every citizen to play a part for the environment and for our quality of life, of course, for the beauty of our neighbourhood, to sort your items and to bring it only on the curb of the street the day of the pickup. Otherwise, it’s going to be a mess,” said Sabourin

The city will begin work on Sunday. Sabourin says officials will need two weeks in order to complete the operation.

One Montrealer mentions how seeing trash everywhere during Moving Day weekend isn’t pleasant.

“I know it’s convenient to just dump it on the side, but if it’s the way we think about everything else that we consume, we couldn’t walk in the city if we just threw everything on the street,” she said.

Sabourin urges movers to sort their items before throwing them out.

“We don’t have the time to sort your items. So if there’s too many materials mixed up together, everything will go into the dump, and we want to recycle as much materials as we can,” he said.

Leaving cooling and other appliances on the curb an have a negative impact on the environment, as the toxic gases could be released into the air.

“Everything that goes to recycle or organic waste or garbage should go on the curb of the street, but if you have appliances then you should bring it to the Ecocentre,” said Sabourin.

Resources like SAESEM (Société pour l’action, l’éducation et la sensibilisation environnementale de Montréal) can be helpful.

“If you have furniture that could be re-gifted to someone, then you have the possibility to bring it to the SAESEM program. All the profit will go for the nonprofit organization,” he said.

“We don’t want our sidewalks to turn into dump. We need the cooperation from every citizen.”