Happy Earth Month, Centennial!

In February, my office participated in the Coldest Night of the Year Fundraiser to raise money for Fernie Youth Services in Scarborough. In operation since 1964, Fernie provides residential assistance, employment readiness, and community reintegration programming to youth across the Greater Toronto Area. Thank you to everyone who came out to walk or donate.

To celebrate Earth Month, we’ll be at the Community Earth Day at the Port Union Community Centre on April 20, 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. There will be native plants available, herb boxes and rain barrels on display along with kid-friendly activities, a book swap and on-site shredding. Our office will be providing free compost starting at 10:30 a.m. while supplies last. Bring a shovel and pail to take some home!

You can also join us for an Earth Day Cleanup on April 20 from 1 to 3 p.m. We will meet in the Lakshmi Narayan Temple parking lot at 1 Morningview Trail. Gloves and bags will be provided and student hours are available.

Climate Action Plan

The City has adopted an ambitious strategy to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Toronto to Net Zero by 2040. Toronto has been and continues to be a trailblazer in climate action. Community-wide emissions have decreased by 41 per cent since 1990, despite a significant growth in population and while Toronto’s gross domestic product continued to rise.

The primary sources of GHG emissions in Toronto are homes and buildings (56 per cent), transportation (35 per cent), and waste (9 per cent). This year, we released a Carbon Budget, a key part of our Carbon Accountability approach. The Carbon Budget is a system to provide comprehensive information on both the effectiveness and cost of City initiatives that aim to reduce emissions across Toronto. As we continue to drive towards our ambitious 2040 GHG emissions reduction targets, the Carbon Budget helps inform better decision-making and enhances our accountability on climate action. You can learn more at toronto.ca/transformTO.

BetterHomesTO

The BetterHomesTO initiative provides homeowners with information, tools and resources to help them learn about and take on home energy retrofits. The City also offers rebates and incentives to help ease the financial burden of these changes through the Home Energy Loan Program. Its website also has information about zero emission vehicle rebate programs. To learn more about how you can green your home and contribute to climate action, please visit betterhomesto.ca.

Waste Management Tips

Every year, the City of Toronto manages more than 900,000 tonnes (almost two billion pounds) of waste. This requires money, energy and resources and takes up valuable landfill space. Waste reduction should always be top of mind as the less waste produced, the less there is to manage.

To join the waste reduction movement, reduce your environmental impact and help keep items out of landfill, check out the City of Toronto TOwaste App. The app has information about sorting your waste, collection schedules and where to find the closest Drop-Off Depot or donation location for reusable items. To learn more about waste management in the City of Toronto visit toronto.ca/waste.

Stay in Touch

If you’d like to get in touch or sign up for my e-newsletter, please email me at councillor_mckelvie@toronto.ca or call 416-338-3771.