"If everyone changes their behaviour a little, the planet will reap the benefits.”

As a Mum to 3 young children, I signed the National Pact for Energy Transition above all to assert my convictions and formalise my commitment to a cause that has been close to my heart for some time. The first actions I took concerned simple things that were easy to put in place in day-to-day life, allowing me to make changes progressively. In my family, we try to reduce the amount of waste we produce. More and more, when we do our grocery shopping, we try to avoid plastic packaging. We have also stopped buying and using disposable utensils, which we have gradually replaced with washable ones: stainless steel straws, reusable fruit compote pouches, paper cups or, simply, cloth napkins have also become part of our everyday lives.

Professionally, I am lucky to be able to work from home one day a week, for over a year now, which reduces my travelling on the day in question, and also has a positive impact on my quality of life. I have a habit of often eating salads for lunch. Since a few months ago, I've been bringing my own glass container to have the salad served into it to avoid using the plastic packaging provided by cafés. All of them accepted to play along with this, without any problems. In fact, some of my colleagues have started to copy this small gesture. My advice for people who want to commit themselves to the National Pact for Energy Transition? Start by putting in place small concrete actions, trying to involve your family and, if possible, your colleagues. It can be as simple as getting yourself a nice mug or flask for work instead of using disposable cups and plastic bottles. It’s clear that we cannot eliminate all pollution from our lives; we have to travel and eat, etc. but if everyone changes their behaviour a little, the planet will reap the benefits.” Julie Rivard Hascoet