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Earth Day Canada has grown from a small movement 25 years ago to an event six million Canadians participate in each year. Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22^nd by more than a billion people worldwide. However, the true power of Earth Day is its ability to prompt individual action and effect policy changes. With that in mind, let’s look at six eco-friendly ways to celebrate Earth Day this year.

Review Your Recycling Routine

Canadians generate 31 million tonnes of trash annually, recycling only about 30%. There are 10,000 landfills across Canada. Yet, many are nearing capacity. As the contents of landfills decay, landfill gases—like methane and carbon dioxide—are produced, polluting air and harming the environment.

Recycling is one of the simplest actions we can take to improve the environment. By complying with the convenient Blue Box recycling program available in most communities, we divert tons of glass, paper, plastics and electronics from being dumped in landfills.

Review your home and work recycling habits. Create a dedicated recycling zone in your garage, if you haven’t already. Community recycling guidelines change periodically. Re-familiarize yourself with the guidelines at least once each year to ensure you’re in compliance. Maximize your environmental impact by recycling as many items from the list as you can. For an even greater impact, reduce the waste your household generates. For instance, using a water filtration pitcher or a refillable water jug can significantly reduce the number of plastic bottles that end up in landfills each year.

Reduce and Repurpose

We all have a stash of items that have outstayed their welcome lurking in our closets, the basement or the garage. Combine your Earth Day celebration with your annual spring cleaning and purge items you no longer use. Recycle or discard broken or outdated items. Give new life to items that don’t work for you now, by repurposing them.

Organize the remaining items in your garage by installing a wall organization system. Maximize storage by making use of wasted vertical space. Enlist a garage renovation professional to safely install overhead storage racks.

Safely Dispose of Household Hazardous Waste

We often think of hazardous waste in commercial settings. However, the average home and garage are brimming with hazardous substances, like automotive fluids, solvents, pesticides and household cleaners.

Do your part to keep the environment clean. Check with community guidelines to learn how to safely dispose of household hazardous waste in your home and garage. Don’t toss household chemicals or old electronics into the trash or pour used automotive oil down the drain or into the ground. Automotive oil can contaminate the soil and up to two million litres of water. Visit your city’s website to find out how to properly dispose of household hazardous waste.

Make Your Home More Energy Efficient

You’ll reduce reliance on non-renewable fossil fuels, like natural gas, oil and coal by making your home more energy efficient. Start with small, inexpensive changes that quickly pay for themselves in energy savings.

Install energy efficient CFL or LED bulbs in your home and garage. LED lights are ideal for use in the garage. They are resistant to cold and you won’t have to wait for them to warm-up to reach full brightness.

Weatherize your home and garage. Temperatures are rising now, but it’s the perfect time to seal drafty spots in your home. Apply weather stripping around the garage door and to the entrance between the house and garage. Seal around electrical outlets on exterior walls to prevent heat loss during winter and cooling loss during summer months.

Reduce Carbon Emissions

Most households have multiple vehicles, increasing air pollution and the use of gasoline. If you live in a walkable community, bike to nearby destinations whenever possible. A brisk ride offers numerous health benefits, and you’ll have the added satisfaction of knowing you’ve reduced your carbon footprint. Keep your family’s bicycles neatly stored with a horizontal, vertical or overhead bicycle rack.

Keep tires properly inflated and perform vehicle maintenance, like oil changes and tune-ups, at regular intervals recommended by the manufacturer. When your vehicle is in top form it will run more efficiently, emit less pollution and use less gasoline. Store automotive accessories in a dedicated automotive zone in your garage. It will be easier to keep inventory of essential fluids and you’ll have everything at your fingertips when you need it.

Join Local Earth Day Initiatives

More than six million Canadians will participate in local Earth Day activities. Here are a few events happening in Ontario:

Clean Your Commute – On Friday, April 22^nd, look for ways to reduce the impact of your commute. Carpool, bike, take public transit or work from home.
Earth Ball 2016 – Toast 25 years of Earth Day Canada at the Mill Street Brewery in the Distillery District. Celebrate Earth Day Canada’s impact on the environment through innovative campaigns and programming. Enjoy live entertainment and mouth-watering fare prepared by Chef Michael Stadtlander. Doors open at 7 PM on April 22^nd.
Toronto Botanical Garden – Looking for a low-key, family-friendly event? Bring the family to the Toronto Botanical Garden on Saturday, April 23^rd from noon to 4 PM. Enjoy a stroll in the Edwards Gardens. Take a guided hike. Make a green smoothie with ingredients from the garden, blended with a blender bike. Visit the Teaching Garden and enjoy a scavenger hunt and woodland crafts. The event is free. No registration required.

In light of climate change and other environmental disasters, it’s more important than ever to adopt an eco-friendlier lifestyle. What we do individually may seem insignificant. However, when considered collectively, even small changes to our daily routines make a difference.

Review our past articles on green initiatives for your home and garage. Then visit EarthDay.ca to learn how you can join efforts with fellow community members to increase your positive impact on the environment.

Harsh Canadian winters are tough on roads and automobiles. The weather can also wreak havoc on your garage door. Ice and snow builds up beneath the garage door, freezing it shut. Metal components contract and seize up in extreme temperatures. Old lubricating grease hardens when temperatures drop, gumming up the tracks. While some issues cause minor inconveniences, others can lead to expensive damage to your garage door or garage opener.

Whether your garage is unfinished or you’ve invested in a snazzy garage renovation, you want to protect your home and the items stored inside your garage. Not all of the consequences of brutal winter weather can be avoided. However, a few preventive steps will greatly reduce the likelihood you’ll return home to the aggravation of a frozen garage door.

Inspect Your Garage Door Regularly

Like many elements of your home and car, your garage door should be inspected regularly. From inside, with the garage door closed, do a monthly inspection of the door and its moving components. Examine rollers, pulley, cables and springs for damage or excessive wear. Confirm that the mounting hardware is securely fastened.

If you see evidence of damage to cables or torsion springs, do not try to adjust them yourself. This can cause injury to you or severe damage to the garage door. Instead, consult a garage door professional who can take care of trickier maintenance and repair issues for you. If you don’t know one, a good garage renovation specialist can likely recommend one for you.

Get the Gunk Out

The moving parts of your garage door require lubricant to slide against one another easily each time the garage door is opened or closed. The grease used to lubricate garage door parts can thicken over time. Debris also tends to collect in the tracks and on the rollers, interfering with movement.

When air temperature dips considerably, the old grease and debris caught in the tracks tends to harden. This clogs the tracks and prevents normal operation of your garage door. To remove built-up gunk, use a damp cloth to remove debris and grease that has built up inside the tracks or on other parts.

Lubricate Your Garage Door

Once you’ve cleared away the hardened grease, get a good grade of silicone lubricant made for use with garage doors. For smooth, trouble-free operation during the winter, and year-round, all the moving parts of your garage door must stay lubricated. Spray rollers, bushings and hinges liberally with the lubricant. Then spray between the sections of the garage door to prevent them from sticking together during icy weather. Do not spray the spring, the chain, the bottom of the chain rail or the track.

Check periodically to ensure that all components are lubricated and operating optimally. Reapply lubricant, as needed. However, be careful not to lube components too much. Too much lubrication can interfere with the alignment of the rollers and lead to a buildup of gunky grease again.

Keep your silicone lubricant and any other household items out of the reach of pets and small children. A locked storage cabinet or high garage shelving are ideal for storing such household items.

Clean and Examine Weather Stripping

The weather stripping beneath your garage door plays an important role. It prevents water, snow, ice and debris from entering your garage. Frequent use of the garage door puts wear and tear on the weather seal. When the weather stripping is compromised, water and dust can get into the garage and damage items stored there. Ice and snow will also build up beneath the garage door if the weather stripping is worn or damaged. If this happens, you could return home from a long day of work one wintry evening to discover that your garage door is frozen to the ground.

Maintain your weather stripping to protect your garage door and the opening mechanism, which can be damaged when you try to raise a garage door that has been frozen shut. First, take a rag and wipe down the seal, inside and out. Then, thoroughly examine the weather stripping. Check for cracks, wear and missing pieces. Test the seal to ensure it is keeping cold air and moisture outside.

If your garage door weather stripping has been damaged, replacing it is an easy fix. Purchase a good garage door seal and install it after removing the old one. If you’d rather not tackle the job yourself, a garage door professional can handle the job for you.

For added protection in the event that moisture does get inside the garage, store items inside your garage above ground whenever possible. A good slatwall organization system, garage storage cabinets and overhead garage storage racks will keep your belongings high and dry if water or ice gets inside.

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Six Eco-Friendly Ways to Celebrate Earth Day