Hurrah! In the corner of her eye, she spotted a thrown away half-eaten carrot in the street a few feet away. She began the arduous process of reaching her prize. Alas, she was too slow; a crow flew down, snatching the vegetable away before her tired legs could catch up.

Ooh! She spied a red round shape a few feet away. Was that an apple in the filthy ditch? She ran as fast as her fragile legs could take her. Sadly, it was not an apple, but a red ball.

Suddenly, she had a flash of memory. There was a market a few streets down. She arrived at the market exhausted. There was a delicious smell in the air. Her mouth began to water as she spotted the source of the smell; a merchant selling fresh cakes. But she had no money to pay him; she had to trick him. She did not rejoice at the thought, but had no other choice. She noticed a striped orange cat in a cage next to the vendor’s stall.

Eureka! She approached the vendor and pretended that the animal had escaped the cage. She nabbed a cake quietly as the vendor’s eyes wandered around the market looking for the missing cat.
Unfortunately, her ruse did not last long. Sadly, her frail legs could not outrun the vendor. He caught her by the nape of her neck. She trembled before the bulky man. She thought she would at last join her parents in their eternal slumber. But suddenly, an old woman stopped the fuming merchant as he was about to strike the little girl. The thief sighed with relief. Next came shock. The kind old woman offered to pay for the cake with one of her rusty golden rings. Her hunger was finally satiated.

She rolled the small black ball from one wall to another like any other day.

She raced her beloved dog Chico across the gardens like any other day.

She scowled at her old musty governess’ lectures about the virtues of motherhood.

She played with the dolls her father had carved for her like any other day.

Her mother quietly entered the room.

She looked strange-her red eyes looked at her young innocent daughter grimly.

Not like any other day.

She watched on, shoulders slumped with worry, until the little girl finally noticed her and turned around.

“Mama”, she screams excitedly.

Her mother ran towards her, hugging her tighter her than she had ever before.

“Mama, it hurts, I can’t breathe”, said the crushed little girl weakly.

As her mother let go, the tears flowing down her cheeks fell on her daughter’s small shoulder.

“Are you well, Mama?” she asked scared.

Her mother grabbed her daughter’s face in her hands, gently rubbing her pink cheeks.

She looked at her wistfully.

A long moment passed until she finally said: “How would you like to play in a bigger garden, my dove?”

“Why?” asked the confused child.

“Do you remember Grandfather’s friend, Lord Cullen?”

“..Y..ess”

“His wife and oldest son just passed,’’ she said with a false smile. “He.. he..he is looking for a new.. w..*sigh* wife”, she continued her voice breaking.

Her daughter looked at her puzzled.

“He.. he..” She took a deep breath. Her voice was coarse and her eyes wet. “He has asked your uncle for your hand.” Her head sunk. “He wants you to be his next wife.”

The little girl’s eyebrows were furrowed.

“I don’t understand, Governess says that girls marry when they can become mothers. I’m too young to be a mother” she explained, her small brown eyes full of fear.

The tears her mother had tried to hold back, now flowed freely.

“Yes, but you will not be his wife now. You will live in his household, but only truly marry him in many years. Only once you become a woman, my dove” she assured trying to convince them both.

The little girl twisted her head from her mother’s hands and shouted “NO, I DON’T WANT TO LEAVE MAMA!”

Her mother moved towards her.

“Do not worry, my dove, it will not be so bad. You are close in age with Lord Cullen’s two youngest daughters. One is even of an age with you.”

Her mouth twisted in shame as she said the words.

The little girl recoiled from her mother and shouted “NO MAMA, NO MAMA, NO MAMA. I WANT TO STAY WITH YOU AND CHICO”.

They both cried for a long moment.

***

She had never been as finely dressed.

Her mother bore a somber expression.

Her own face was sullen.

The joy of the occasion was only reflected in her uncle who smiled proudly.

Her uncle and Lord Cullen had made all the necessary arrangements; it was time to take her away.

Her groom was taller than any man she had seen before.

He was like a giant from the stories her maid read her before bed.

He looked at his bride coldly, with no hint of care.

“Come wife,” he beckoned her.

He walked towards his carriage without looking back to see if his little wife was following.

She looked from his retreating back to her mother to her uncle and again to her mother, tapping her small feet, unsure what to do.

“Go on, go on, child, join your husband” her uncle said gently but firmly.

She looked towards her mother.

She had turned away from her daughter, shielding the tears of despair cascading down her pale face.

“Go on, my dove”, she said weakly.

The little girl took one last look at her mother’s back and bravely moved her tiny feet towards her giant husband’s ginormous carriage.

Her mother began to sob. The further her daughter was, the faster her restraint left her, the louder her sobs became.

Her irked brother grabbed her arm and dug into her sleeve.

“You always loved that child too much and too senselessly,” he said with disgust.

The small black ball sat motionless on the floor like any other day.

Chico walked aimlessly in the gardens searching for his little mistress like any other day.

Dust collected on motionless carved dolls like any other day.

Her mother cried herself to sleep like any other day.

Years went by.

One day, Chico finally smelled the familiar smell of his little mistress.

He expected to see her running towards him.

Alas, it was not to be.

She came in a wooden box along with the child she had borne her husband.

Her husband had waited, but not enough.

As the city prepares to ban many single-use plastics, local companies are offering a potential solution

Abigail Jersey, Margaret Wdowiak, Béatrice Girardin, Denis Chmoulevitch · for CBC News · Posted: Apr 25, 2022 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: April 25, 2022

This story is a collaboration between Concordia University’s journalism department and CBC Montreal.

Shanni Weber might be the manager at Falafel St. Jacques, but she takes on dishwashing duties when needed. On a Friday morning, she scrubs a container with hot water while kitchen staff move around her as they prepare for the lunch rush. Once satisfied, she puts the box in an industrial sanitizing machine.

This container is unlike other takeout dishes. Customers make a $7 deposit to use the box when they pick up their food. Afterwards, they bring the container back to any partnering establishment for a refund.

Restaurants are revising their packaging strategy given Montreal’s plan to ban many single-use plastics next year — including takeout containers that often wind up in the trash. As the city’s landfills fill up, restaurants are exploring alternatives such as using compostable and truly recyclable materials, and partnering with companies that offer reusable containers that are shared across several businesses.

“I particularly like the one that’s aluminum with the lid. It’s very durable, it’s going to last a long time,” says Weber.

WATCH | Following a reusable container’s daily journey:

A day in the life of a reusable takeout container

Started 2 years ago

LIVEAnticipating the ban of single-use plastics coming next year, some Montreal restaurants have already started offering reusable takeout containers. All that’s required is a deposit to participate. Check out the journey of one container. Video by Denis Chmoulevitch.

Restaurants and eco-responsibility

Falafel St. Jacques uses La Boîte, a reusable takeout product made by La Vague. They’re currently testing the containers in three Quebec regions: MRC de Roussillon, MRC de Lotbinière and Montreal’s Lachine borough. La Vague is also behind La Tasse, a reusable coffee cup available in hundreds of cafés and outlets in Quebec.

“Following the rhythm of La Tasse, we’re aiming to reach 100 new participants every year,” says Aurore Courtieux-Boinot, co-founder of La Vague.

Retournzy is another organization offering reusable containers in southwestern Montreal.

“You take the container back, you don’t have to [clean] it,” says Cindy Vaucher, the co-founder of Retournzy. Their employees ride bicycles to pick up used containers, wash them and drop them back off to participating restaurants.

Patrick St-Vincent, a former restaurant owner who now works as a food service consultant, believes the industry is ready.

“There’s a desire to make a difference for the environment and to improve [their] practices,” he says. “Still, if the takeout box isn’t adequate, people will leave it at home and forget it in a drawer.”

But some customers see potential. At Falafel St. Jacques, Paul Bowden is interested in reusable containers if they can significantly reduce waste. “Long term, I think it would be a good sustainable system,” says Bowden while rushing to his parked car.

“If I know they’re clean” and that she can get her deposit back, “I would definitely be down,” says Amol Kaur, a student picking up her lunch.

A takeout solution

Replacing single-use plastic is no easy feat. In 2021, Laurence Pageau worked with the City of Montreal on plastic management. She says finding similar, reusable materials is a complex task.

“Plastic, in addition to its democratic price, is light, hygienic, resistant and can be moulded easily in all shapes,” she says. “No wonder it’s so popular and hard to replace.”

At the start of the pandemic, takeout volume increased and so did plastic waste. Before launching Retournzy, Vaucher was motivated to find alternatives for the takeout containers she was throwing away.

She found inspiration in La Tasse’s process to come up with a solution that harnessed a community of eco-conscious business owners and customers.

“We planned, since the beginning, to create a network,” Vaucher says.

Germs, sanitization and ongoing challenges

But encouraging people to opt in to the system can be a challenge — especially during a pandemic.

Ono Pokii, a restaurant in Westmount, Que., hasn’t implemented a reusable takeout method yet. Owner John Weimers says this is because he’s worried about the reaction from customers.

“Already in the restaurant itself, if I have anything more than a table or two, the older clients, they don’t come in.… I think that stigma is going to stick around for quite some time,” he says.

To address these concerns, Courtieux-Boinot says they chose the materials for La Boîte according to their environmental impact and “their ability to be sanitary and safe.”

Vaucher, too, wants to make the Retournzy process as safe and hygienic as possible.

“We will clean it and sanitize it and we will do the bacterial test and redistribute,” Vaucher says. “There is no risk with the pandemic.”

Retournzy stores used containers separately, and their warehouse follows the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food’s requirements for washing and disinfecting.

Étienne Perron, a cook at Café des Habitudes in Montreal’s Petite-Patrie neighbourhood, says that a restaurant’s volume of customers is an important factor in using the service.

“Here, at the café, I really can see myself using La Boîte without it interfering too much with the flow of my work,” he says. But he recognizes it might pose a greater challenge for restaurants that serve hundreds of meals a night.

And consumers could question whether this option is worth it. According to a social influence study by Swiss researchers, customers could feel “like one is being charged for acting sustainably.”

Some restaurant owners agree. “Even though it’s a deposit, if you have to buy a salad, and you have to add $7 — for some people, that’s an investment, that’s not lunch,” says Ronan Baruch, owner of Falafel St. Jacques.

But Vaucher is convinced enough people will buy in.

“It’s all a movement and [the people] are really motivated,” says Vaucher, adding that wide adoption could give them enough business to manufacture the containers in Quebec.

“We want to bring the production back here so the economy can really be circular,” she says.

Link to original article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/reusable-containers-deposit-single-use-plastics-ban-zero-waste-1.6412121