Girl power

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by Craig Segal

With a goal towards saving the planet, two enthusiastic young environmentalists are teaching business owners how to save bundles of cash and go green at the same time--for free.

Funded by the Jeanne-Mance éco-quartier, the duo assess businesses' energy consumption and offer nifty tricks to rein in berzerker hydro and gas bills. "So many small businesses were affected by the increase is energy prices, it's hard for the government or Hydro to figure out their situation," says one half of the duo, Marilène Bergeron, 26. "They have no idea what they can do to improve their energy consumption."

The pair, who have approached 250 small businesses so far, say residents can learn from businesses' mistakes. "Twenty per cent of energy is lost through doors and windows," says Bergeron. "Don't increase temperature to get rid of humidity; it doesn't work nearly as well as proper ventilation," adds the other half, Sabrina Bertrand, 20. Other tips for the world's greatest energy consumers include: insulating pipes and hot air ducts, switching to fluorescent and halogen bulbs, weather-stripping windows, lowering heat moderately at night rather than shutting it off, and unblocking air circulation near heaters.

At least one local merchant is skittish of the ladies. "I cut down the energy! Why do we need all the problems?" exclaims Simcha, of Simcha's Fruit Market at the corner of St-Laurent and Napoléon (he refused to give his last name). "Since when you wanna teach an old dog new things?"