Every September 22, people from around the world get together in the streets, intersections, and neighbourhood blocks to remind the world that we don't have to accept our car-dominated society.

World Carfree Day, a showcase for just how our cities might look like, feel like, and sound like without cars, is an en excellent opportunity to rethink and rediscover our personal mobility and the urban environment we live in.

Come celebrate International Car Free Day and to promote clean air, safe streets and the many active transportation and making healthy and active transportation choices on Saturday September 26th 2009 from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm in Downtown Kelowna on Bernard Avenue by the Sails and Kerry Park.

There will be Free activities including live music in Kerry Park, skateboards and bike demonstrations, games for all ages, interactive booths and displays, you can explore a Double decker bus, street art and face painting and more!

Source: I-Go Central Okanagan

Clean Air Day is a celebration of environmentally-friendly activities that promote clean air and good health across Canada. It is a great opportunity to make environmentally-friendly lifestyle choices, for you, your family and your community. This year Clean Air Day is on Wednesday June 3rd.

The Transit will be free. Tell the driver it's Clean Air Day. There will be complimentary breakfast from 7:00 to 8:30 AM at Queensway, Orchard Park and Westbank Transit exchanges.

Choices made by businesses, communities and individuals can lead to meaningful reductions in air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.

Tips to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions:

• Leave the car at home. Walk or bike for short trips;
  
• For longer trips, take the bus; one busload of passengers takes 40 vehicles off the road, saving 70,000 litres of fuel, 175 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and nine tonnes of pollutants per year.
• Don't idle your vehicles; Ten seconds of idling uses more fuel that restarting your engine and produces more air pollution
• Keep to the speed limit. Driving at 100 km/h burns 10 per cent more fuel than driving at 90 km/h. 
• On the highway, use cruise control to maintain a steady speed and reduce fuel consumption. 
• In the city, stop-and-go traffic means that your air conditioning can increase fuel consumption by as much as 20 per cent. At low city speeds, open windows can be a fuel-saving alternative.

With the cold weather, it's a good time save money and energy with an Energy Star natural gas heating system.

If you upgrade your furnace or boiler to an Energy Star system, you can save upto $950 in bill credits and rebates. Terasen Gas will provide you with a bill credit of $250 when you upgrade before Dec 31st 2009 and manufacturers will provide $700 in rebates when you upgrade before Jan 31st 2009.

A furnace or boiler that is more than 13 years old is probably a low efficiency model, running at 60 to 70% AFUE (Annual Fuel utilization Efficiency). An Energy Star natural gas furnace can run at 97% while an Energy Star boiler can perform at 85%.

Heating your home accounts for a large portion of your home energy costs so you should have your furnace checked by a licensed natural gas contractor so it is operating efficiently. They do specialized tests on gas pipes as well.

Here are some simple ideas that can help you save energy, the environment and money.

• Turning your thermostat down to 20°C during the day and 17°C at night can save as much as 15 per cent on your heating costs. Afraid you’ll forget? Consider installing a programmable thermostat.
• Keep warm air inside and cold air outside. Caulk or weatherstrip the cracks, gaps and leaks around walls, windows and doors.
• To help keep your furnace at peak efficiency, clean or change the furnace filters regularly