Millions of people around the world took part in Earth Day celebrations and Montrealers were no different.
At St. Dorothy Elementary School, students made their own recycled paper.
“It's good because they get a chance to appreciate why it's so important to recycle and just to make those choices next time they have to make the decision between throwing it in the trash or the recycling,” said the school’s spiritual and community animator Aaron Durocher.
At Concordia, an associate professor is hoping to illustrate climate change with a countdown clock he created with musician David Usher. It shows when the planet's global temperature will rise by two degrees.
“Our clock shows there's 28 years left till we get to two degrees and 16 years till get to the 1.5 degree mark and these are thresholds we want to avoid,” said Damon Matthews.
You can see the climate clock until Saturday night, projected onto a building at de Maisonneuve Blvd. and Guy St.
The city planted 12 new trees at Maisonneuve Park to celebrate, and hopes to plant 375,000 new trees by 2017 in time for Montreal’s 375th anniversary.
“When you look at the Montreal map now it's kind of gray but we have the wish that everything becomes greener,” said Marco Parent of Jour de la terre.
Parent says small gestures make a big difference like, taking public transit, using fewer plastic bags and writing on both sides of a paper.
St. Dorothy student Ryan Sousa knows about those small gestures.
“Before I go to bed tonight I need to turn off the light because you can't waste light because you waste electricity,” he explained.
And as Earth Day turns 46 the real takeaway is simple.
“You should not just take care of the Earth on Earth Day but everyday too,” said grade 3 student Liam Calligaris.
