Exploring National Clean Air Month!
We hope that you have had a wonderful Earth Month and indulged or involved yourself in some new things that you may have never tried before that was sustainable in nature. We also hope that you have decided to continue the momentum of last month by keeping the sustainability, eco-friendly, green movement front and center in your world. As we move into May, we want to bring your attention to it being National Clean Air, National Salad, and Celiac Disease Awareness Month. Mother's Day, Memorial Day and graduations are a few big themes for May too. However, we want to keep the focus on investing and protecting the environment and holistic health and wellness as we did during Earth Month. Therefore, we will start off bringing awareness to Clean Air Month.
Clean Air Act
"The United States adopted the Clean Air Act in 1970 to protect our health from dirty, dangerous air. Thanks to that law, cities throughout the nation have cleaner air. Yet too many cities still have dangerous levels of air pollution." Since then, addendums have been made to the act to enhance it further and they will continue to be made to the end of time to ensure the quality of air improves in the United States. Life expectancy has increased since such initiatives were put in place to help control the air quality.
Clean Air Month
In 1972, the American Lung Association first celebrated Clean Air Week. In 1994, they decided to observe Clean Air for the entire month of May, not just a week. Since than National Clean Air Month has been acknowledged every May. This May marks 50 years that the American Lung Association has placed an effort towards educating the American public on the importance of being mindful of our air quality and the things that we may have done to destroy it, and the things we can do to improve it. Clean Air Month is about bringing awareness to the masses on how important it is to be an advocate for the air we breathe and keeping it clean so that we can continue to breathe fresh air all the days of our lives. It is not just about us humans it is about the entire ecosystem.
Why is Clean Air Important?
It is hard to breathe if we do not have clean air. Clean air solves many concerns by allowing us to live healthier by breathing easier. Poor air quality exacerbates conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, and lung diseases like cancer.
Clean Air Affords for:
1. Improved clarity
2. Better concentration/focus
3. Stable mental health
4. Normal blood pressure
5. Overall good health
a. Allergy free living.
6. Reduction in asthma, bronchitis, and lung diseases (inflammation of passageways)
7. Easier breathing
8. Lower emissions and gases in the air
Positive Impacts
Choose to:
1. Bike/Scooter to work
2. Carpool (daily, weekly or when possible)
3. Use eco-friendly cleaning products most of the time
4. Invest in air-filters and air purifiers
5. Conserve energy everywhere you go and all throughout your home
6. Purchase only products that have the energy star label
7. Open windows to allow fresh air to flow in
8. Partake in some deep home cleaning at minimum twice a month
9. Buy an electric vehicle
10.Keep your gas vehicle up to date on all the services it requires
11.Tighten the gas tank cap after every fill up
In conclusion, although we are not where we were before or during the 1970s regarding our air quality, improvements are still needed to sustain long life and have better health conditions to reside on this earth. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to be called on to fully implement and enforce limits on air pollution, inclusive of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. We all must do our part and advocate for change for our ecosystem.
Reference:
The American Lung Association: Clean Air Act