Residents, businesses and other organisations across Allerdale are being encouraged to play their part in helping to combat air pollution on Clean Air Day 2020 – today.
The national initiative aims to shine a spotlight onto the issue of air quality and what can be done to help improve it. Allerdale Borough Council issupporting the campaign by working with Cumbria County Council to promote the key messages by sharing information with partner organisations and social media to spread the word to residents and visitors.
People can get involved with the campaign by sharing the key messages on social media, making their own Clean Air Day pledge and using the personal air pollution calculator to work out their own contribution to air pollution in UK.
Tips for people to support improving air quality include:
- Giving your car a day off, by walking to work or school, and turning off the engine when stationary and safe to do so.
- Considering getting an electric car
- Improving in-home air quality by opening windows and using extractor fans when cooking or using cleaning products, but closing windows near busy roads during rush hours.
- Thinking about products used in the including fragrance-free milder cleaning products, and paints and varnishes labelled ‘low volatile organic compounds’.
- Only burning dry, well-seasoned wood or smokeless fuel in stoves, on open fire or BBQs. A stove is better than an open fire.
Jim Lister, Allerdale’s executive member for finance and legal – which encompasses environmental protection – said: “We already have plenty to shout about when it comes to air quality in Allerdale and Cumbria more generally with our region enjoying some of the best rankings nationally.
“But it’s important not to rest on our laurels and to keep working hard to make sure the air we breathe remains as clean as possible for the health of our residents and the planet.”