Winnipeggers urged to act like every day is Earth Day

Earth Day is officially one one day a year but The Forks hopes Winnipeggers celebrate it every day.

The Forks wantto remind people about thebig and little things that can be done tomake the planet healthier.

"We like to think that every day is Earth Day at The Forks, but we wanted to highlight all of the things you can do on your own," said KristinPauls, communications co-ordinator for Forks North Portage Corporation.

Free tours and programming showcasing green initiativeran all day.

The Manitoba Electric Vehicle Association, Green Action Centre and The Beeproject all participated.

The Forks also took the opportunity to show off what it isdoing for the planet through its "Target Zero"program which aimsto achievezero garbage, zero water waste and zero carbon emissions.

Three separate geothermal heat systemsheatthe market building. Organic waste from 15 food merchants and seven fresh food producers is composted which diverts80 per centof garbage from the landfill.

The Forks also converted maintenance equipment like the ice re-surfacerto run onused vegetable oil.

"We find that alot of the simple steps that we can take to help our earth and minimize our carbon footprint are also things that are gaining financial benefit for us to and help us to reduce the costs," said Pauls.

For the 11thstraight Earth Day, the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ organized two big communityclean-ups.The first one tackled the grounds aroundThunderBird House on Main Street and thesecond was a clean sweep of theMillennium Library Park. In the last decade, the BIZ says it have removed nearly 6,000 kilogramsof litter out of the downtown.