WIN FOUR ICE SKATING TICKETS - PART II

Do you want to win four FREE ice skating tickets?
Just follow Clean Air NY’s social network profiles & you’re automatically entered to win!
This contest was so successful for us over the past two weeks that we have decided to extend it for another two weeks! Start following Clean Air NY NOW and you could win TONIGHT! Every day from now until March 14th we are picking one of our new friends to win four free tickets to ice skate in Central Park – it could be you! What are you waiting for? Add Clean Air NY now!

Friend us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter

Each day we’ll pick one person at random from all of our new fans on both Facebook and Twitter, so add us on both networks and double your chances at winning!

Good luck everyone, and thank you so much for supporting Clean Air NY!

BONUS:

Help us promote this contest and you could earn even more tickets! Just write a tweet encouraging your friends to follow Clean Air NY on Twitter, and we’ll pick two of our helpers to each win five tickets at the end of the contest.

One example would be “CONTEST: follow @CleanAirNY & u could win 4 tix for ice skating at Wollman Rink! http://www.bit.ly/fi109rf (Pls RT!)” Just make sure you @Mention us in your update so we see it. We will count one promotional tweet per person per day, so tweet about our contest often and increase your chances of winning!

*Tickets are good for free admission and skate rental at Wollman Rink, and are valid through April 3, 2011.

Use 511NY.org and Make the Most of Public Transit this Presidents Day

image by Joe Shlabotnik used under Creative Commons license

On Feb. 21, we celebrate Presidents Day, a federal holiday commemorating the birthdays of our first and 16th presidents - George Washington and Abraham Lincoln - respectively. As Presidents Day approaches, we may wonder what life was like when those leaders were alive.

Technology has improved immensely since the 18th and 19th centuries, including transportation. When Washington led our nation, people and goods traveled on land by horse-drawn wagons, coaches and carriages. Oxen and mules also pulled wagons and carts, loaded with goods and personal property from one destination to the other. In Lincoln’s time, new ways to travel were developing, such as trains and ferries, and the Erie Canal was thriving. Today, we have countless forms of land transportation, including public transit, which is available to all citizens.

This Presidents Day, in addition to taking advantage of any special events, make the most of public transit – take the bus, train, subway or ferry to explore the stores around the region! Visit 511NY.org to plan your trip or to check out real-time transit conditions. 511NY also has a new mobile app: click here to find out more information on how to download it onto your smartphone.

WIN FOUR ICE SKATING TICKETS

Do you want to win four FREE ice skating tickets?
Just follow Clean Air NY’s social network profiles & you’re automatically entered to win!
Start following Clean Air NY NOW and you could win TONIGHT! Every day from now until February 28th we are picking one of our new friends to win four free tickets to ice skate in Central Park – it could be you! What are you waiting for? Add Clean Air NY now!

Friend us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter

Each day we’ll pick one person at random from all of our new fans on both Facebook and Twitter, so add us on both networks and double your chances at winning!

Good luck everyone, and thank you so much for supporting Clean Air NY!

*Tickets are good for free admission and skate rental at Wollman Rink, and are valid through April 3, 2011.

Six Ways to Say “I Love You” And Clean Our Air

image by Sister72 used under Creative Commons license

Valentine’s Day is a great time to show your love for our planet as well as the special people in your life. Below are six great ways to celebrate the day and to reduce New York’s air pollution at the same time.

Looking for eco-gift suggestions?

1. When buying cards and gifts for your loved ones, make a list prior to shopping. If you plan ahead, you’ll only have to make one trip to the card store and gift shop. Combining these trips reduces emissions from your car.

2. Want to help your special someone clean up the air? What about a new bike? If that’s beyond your budget, what about a bike lock or pedometer?

3. Telecommute on Monday, February 14, to stay close to your loved ones.

Need eco-friendly date ideas?

4. Take your significant other to Grand Central Terminal. It’s a beautiful, romantic and historic New York City landmark, plus you can get there and back with a plethora of public transit options - train, bus or subway!

5. Go sledding, cross-country skiing or snowshoeing in a park! They are fun activities, plus you won’t be contributing to poorer air quality.

6. Make a dinner reservation at a local restaurant specializing in organic or locally grown food. Eating locally cuts down on food miles.

More Tips for Improving Winter Air Quality – Regardless of the Groundhog’s Prediction!

image by Matt MacGillivray used under Creative Commons license

Happy Groundhog Day! Last week, we posted tips for travelers about how to improve air quality during winter. This week, we highlight three year-round activities that are especially helpful in colder months.

1. Sign Up For Air Quality Action Day Updates

Even though most of our Air Quality Action Days occur during summer when ozone levels often are high, Air Quality Action Days can – and do – happen all year. In fact, we had two in December 2010. Make sure you sign up for our updates so you can make smart, healthy and environmentally friendly travel choices whenever an Air Quality Action Day occurs.

2. Combine Multiple Errands into One Trip

Navigate intelligently and combine multiple errands into one trip. That’s a routine you can practice year-round. As you help reduce air pollution, you also save valuable time and money on gas. Doing consecutive errands keeps your engine warm, so your car will operate more efficiently. This is particularly effective during the winter, when cold temperatures cause your engine to cool off faster.

3. Don’t Idle

Being diligent about this tip every day helps improve our air quality and is especially important during the winter. This time of year, many people start their car engines and let them idle for several minutes to warm up the cars. Even though driving in a cold car can be unpleasant, you can improve air quality and save money on gas by not letting your vehicles idle. In fact, an idling car engine can waste around 24.5 gallons (more than a full tank of gas!) each year.

WIN A PAIR OF ICE SKATING TICKETS

Do you want to win a pair of FREE ice skating tickets?
Enter the “I Support Clean Air NY” contest to win!
Note: There will be separate drawings for Facebook and Twitter, so enter them both and double your chances at winning!

Here’s how it works for Twitter users:

To enter, simply post a tweet that begins “I support @Clean Air NY by…” and then finish it with something you’ve done to improve the air quality. That’s it! And if you want to start following our tweets, that would be awesome too!

Here’s how it works for Facebook users:

To enter, just write a status update that begins “I support @Clean Air NY by…” and then finish it with something you’ve done to improve the air quality. That’s it! You just have to make sure of two things so that your status will show up on our wall and we will know to count your entry. First, make sure we’re tagged in the update (you have to "like" our Facebook page for this to work), and second, make sure you share your status with "Everyone" using the small lock on the bottom right of the status update menu. Unfortunately this is the only way for us to guarantee that we can see your status update, so just make sure you follow those two steps. If you need help tagging us, check out this tutorial.

Both contests will end on Monday 2/14/11 at 11:59pm ET. After that, we will randomly choose 15 total winners from both Facebook and Twitter to each receive a pair of tickets to Wollman Rink good for free admission and skate rental, as well as vouchers for food and drinks. These tickets will expire April 3rd, 2011.

That’s it! Good luck everyone, and thank you so much for supporting Clean Air NY!