Giving pollution an airing

Our local authority is hoping that roads around the district will be a lot quieter on Thursday, June 20th.

That date in the calendar has apparently been nominated asGiving pollution an airing national “Clean Air Day” and local residents are being urged to show their support for this pollution awareness campaign by leaving the car at home.

The idea behind Clean Air Day – says a B&NE’s spokesperson -‘ is to improve people’s understanding of air pollution, how it affects our health and what we can do to tackle it.’

Motor vehicles create more toxic air than any other single human activity and Bath has particularly high levels of NO2 which can make heart and lung problems, such as asthma, much worse.

On Clean Air Day residents are being urged to leave their car at home and use a sustainable method of travel into school, work or town, and to share a photo of their pledge with friends and family online.

Councillor Sarah Warren, cabinet member for Climate Emergency and Neighbourhood Services , said “We all need to do our bit to reduce air pollution and Clean Air Day is an opportunity to think about the way we travel and make a change to lessen our impact on air quality.   It can be as simple as pledging to walk, cycle or take the park & ride.

By working together and doing something fun in the community, such as organising a walking bus to school, we can all do our bit to help to spread the clean air message.

“For people who need their car to get to work, pledges can be made to car share and we’re asking businesses across the area to do their bit to encourage sustainable transport and travel – not just on Clean Air Day itself,  but on every day of the year”

To find out more, download pledge cards and get involved you can visit: http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/cleanair4bathnes

To share pledges on social media use @bathnes and @cleanairdayUK  and hashtags: #cleanair4bathnes  #cleanairday

To support Clean Air Day, the council is hosting a special pop-up event at Kingsmead Square in Bath on 20 June, 11-6pm with lots of advice and hands-on demonstration of how to get around sustainably:

Residents and businesses will be able to:

•           Discover the benefits of investing in a fully electric or hybrid electric vehicle or regularly using car club

•           Get expert advice from TravelWest on getting around sustainably

•           Discover how advanced driving techniques can help cut pollution and make the roads safer for walking and cycling

•           Find out how businesses can reduce their NO2 footprint by using a last-mile cargo bike delivery company

•           Check out the latest electric bikes from Take Charge Bikes

•           Get confident on a bike – and book families onto Bikeability’s summer training

•           Make a smoothie on an electric smoothie bike

•           Have a thorough bicycle check- and tune-up by Dr Bike.

Bath businesses are also encouraged to come along and find out about a low emission lorry, electric van, electric cargo bike/last mile delivery, and electric bikes which will  be available to demo on the day from 11-6pm.

Clean air champions from St Andrew’s Church School will also be answering questions about the causes of air pollution and how to reduce it.

Clean Air Day also coincides with the launch of a project in primary schools across Bath and North East Somerset to raise awareness of the causes and impact of air pollution and how to combat it.

The council has produced an electronic Clean Air Schools Toolkit for primary schools to use in support of the National Curriculum. Teachers can use the resources to deliver lessons and raise awareness amongst children and their families.