Residents, businesses and other organisations across Allerdale are being encouraged to play their part in helping to combat air pollution as Clean Air Day 2020 is marked today (Thursday, October 8).
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 are supporting the initiative and have been working together with Cumbria County Council to promote the key messages this year. Information has been shared with partner organisations and social media will be used to spread the word to residents and visitors.
There are a number of things people can do to get involved with the campaign, including 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.
It is the responsibility of Allerdale BC officers to monitor air pollution and respond to air pollution incidents. The Council’s environmental protection team monitors air quality in accordance with the Government programme and monitors for nitrogen dioxide every month across 15 monitoring locations in the borough.
One of the authority’s other jobs is to continue to promote and maintain our good air quality.
Allerdale’s environmental protection team has also issued some tips for people looking to support improving air quality. They are:
- Give your car a day off, try to walk to work or school. If you drive, turn off your engine when your vehicle is stationary and it is safe to do so.
- Consider going electric. The availability of electric charging points is increasing all the time. Nationally, there has been a huge increase in the registration of electric cars since 2015… why not join them?
- To improve in-home air quality, ventilate your property, open windows and use extractor fans when cooking or using cleaning products, but close windows near busy roads during rush hours.
- Think about the products you use around the house. Use fragrance-free milder cleaning products. Choose paints and varnishes that are labelled ‘low volatile organic compounds’.
- Only burn dry, well-seasoned wood or smokeless fuel in your stove, open fire or BBQ. A stove is better than an open fire.
Cllr 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.”
All resources are available at https://www.cleanairday.org.uk/. To take part in Clean Air Day on social media, use the hashtag #CleanAirDay.
