Free Victory Gardens in Laval
Dear smart Canada, I am a resident of Laval in the province of Quebec and I believe that I could do a lot of good both for the environment and the members of my community with the grand prize of $50,000. With it, me and my team would create a small company whose mandate is to build roughly twenty to thirty small-sized vegetable gardens either in the back or the front of the houses (for additional exposure) of some of the residents of my community for free. The participants would be selected at random through a draw so as to make it as fair as possible. We would also document this project and publish the results with pictures on a website, in english and in french, available for everyone to enjoy and compare their crops. The website would also serve as a platform (forum) for the participants to ask questions and share information, which would minimize the maintenance costs of the operation. Studies have shown that gardening really helps to clear the mind and reduce stress. It also provides the freshest most exciting vegetables available at a fraction of the usual price, but the problem is that people don't know where to start and that's exactly where we intervene. Gardens aren't just green literally, they truly are one of the most efficient ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by taking carbon dioxide out of the air and storing it in the ground in the form of organic matter. They're also as local as you can get and as such, there's no need for big polluting diesel trucks to haul them around and that results in cleaner air. Small really is smart, and this innovative low-tech (read: capital non-intensive) concept would educate not only those who actually have gardens in their yards, but inspire others well beyond the vicinity of Laval to do the same by giving them solid examples of how it can be done. We were blown away by many of the other participant's brilliant ideas and every one of them deserve to win as much as we do, but we really believe that we can give you the most for your investment in terms of good for the environment, health and education within the whole of my community and that of many others. Let's show everyone that it is possible by planting the seeds for a better future in a smarter and greener world one community at a time. Let's rock, Iannick Gagnon