Recap of Eastchester’s Green Day Expo

“Hello!” I greet cheerily from behind the friendly and inviting Clean Air NY table at the Eastchester’s Green Day Expo. Amidst the increasingly cloudy grey sky, I receive a hurried glance as the person picks up a Clean Air NY Travel Choice Guide and tip pen. I’m confident that even though he did not stop to chat, he will at least read the informative brochure and learn a thing or two from the tip pen about how he can improve NY’s air quality.

“Hello!” I greet once again, this time aiming my hello a mother of two, casually browsing the vendor tables.

She slows down, makes eye contact, and responds as the first rain drops start to come down, “Hello. Clean Air NY? What are you guys about?”

Yes! Finally a potential Clean Air NY individual partner.

“Well, I’m glad you asked! Clean Air NY is an initiative of the New York State Department of Transportation that works to improve the air quality in the region. We are here to provide you with tips on how you can improve the air quality in the area. We’d also like to sign you up for our Air Quality Action Day Updates. We will send you an e-mail or text message the day before the air quality is predicted to be particularly poor and provide you with some tips on things you can do to help improve the air quality such as taking public transit, carpooling or refueling after dark.”

Intrigued, the concerned mom responds, “Why not? I like clean air and my children have asthma, so it’s definitely an important thing to know. Where do I sign up?” After she signs up, she mentions to me that her family walked to the Green Day Expo since they lived close by. I thanked her for doing her part to improve NY’s air quality.

And thus we have successfully added another name to our growing list of concerned citizens making the commitment to clean air. And it is a win – win – win situation. The new individual partner can leave with a more interesting story to tell her husband about her day involving her heroic attempts to save the world, her children have proof that moms are really superheroes and Clean Air NY get support to continue on our mission to single handedly reverse the negative affects of car emissions – or at the very least to reduce the vehicle miles travelled by single passenger cars in New York.

This very chain of results is why being able to help out with the Clean Air NY program will definitely remain one of my most positive internship experiences. I am left with the genuine feeling that I have made some contribution, however small it may be, to improving the quality of life on this planet. Also, it’s inspiring to see people who are willing to help out where they can, even in the rain, because they realize that in the end it is not about being a citizen of one specific area; it’s about being a world citizen, participating in a movement to reverse the damage that careless use of new technologies has created.

Saving the world is a big job, but I mean someone has to pull out their umbrellas, stick it out and do it, right?

You can sign-up to receive Air Quality Action Day Updates at CleanAirNY.org.

Thea Charles, Clean Air NY/MetroPool summer intern.

Commit to Cleaner Air Week, Day 1 - NBC's Today Show and Grand Central Terminal

Clean Air NY kicked off Commit to Cleaner Air week outside of The Today Show studios in Rockefeller Center. As the camera spanned the audience outside, millions of viewers, nationally, caught a glimpse of how important it is to improve the air quality in New York State’s downstate region.

After our Today Show spotting, the Clean Air NY Street Team, along with our new Clean Air NY mascot made our way across town – carpooling of course – to Grand Central Terminal (the quintessential hub of New York public transit). At Grand Central, the Clean Air NY Cloud entertained hundreds of people commuting to and from work, while the street team spoke to dozens of people about committing to cleaner air. New Yorkers were interested in learning how to reduce their carbon footprint and Clean Air NY had just the answer! We explained to them that it is as simple as making smart travel choices – carpooling, taking public transit or biking, especially on air quality action days!

Want to learn more about Commit to Cleaner Air Week? Visit http://www.cleanairny.org/commit.

Jessica S. Horne, Marketing and Outreach Associate of Clean Air NY.

Clean Air NY Launches Our Clean Air NY Mascot

Clean Air NY launched our new mascot at the American Lung Association Asthma Walk in Battery Park City on Saturday, May 30. Over the next three weeks our mascot will be on a road trip around the NY Downstate Region - Lower Hudson Valley, Long Island and New York City. Check Clean Air NY's events page on our website (http://www.cleanairny.org/WhatIsCANY/LatestNews.aspx) to track the mascot's road trip. If you spot the mascot, take a picture of it or with it and upload it to the Clean Air NY Facebook Events Page (http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/event.php?eid=87179364018) by choosing to attend the event and then click the Add Photos link to upload your pictures and enter to win a free Metrocard.

And there is one more thing... we need your help, OUR MASCOT NEEDS A NAME! Help Clean Air NY name our mascot by entering the "Name the Clean Air NY Mascot" contest. E-mail your mascot name ideas to info@CleanAirNY.org. If your name is picked by the New York State Department of Transportation, you will win a free public transportation pass around the NY metro area!

To learn more about Clean Air NY or to sign up to receive real-time Air Quality Action Day Updates visit http://www.cleanairny.org/!

What Is An Air Quality Action Day?

Air Quality Action Days are announced when air quality is predicted to be in the unhealthy range, in parts or all of the New York metropolitan area. This affects everyone, especially sensitive groups such as those with heart and lung problems or asthma, the elderly and children. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is responsible for analyzing air pollution data and forecasts whether air quality will approach or exceed unhealthy levels. Based on these forecasts, the New York State Department of Transportation issues an Air Quality Action Day and Clean Air NY sends an update to our network. On these days, all of us in the New York metro area are asked to make a special effort – such as driving less – to reduce activities that contribute to air pollution.

These are days that are all about making smart travel choices.

Here is a to-do list on an Air Quality Action Day:


* Stay Indoors. Seize the opportunity to catch up on the television programs you recorded, to play board games with your family or to finish that book you started months ago.
Limit Driving. Reschedule your trips and errands to another day, if possible. If you must travel, try to limit driving and engine idling; even better -- don’t drive and work from home.
* Refuel After Dark. Filling your tank in the evening prevents certain pollutants from being emitted that react with sunlight and heat to create ground-level ozone.
* Combine Trips. You can save time while you are improving the air. Instead of going home after work and then back out to the gym or to the grocery store, plan ahead and combine your errands into one trip, even on the weekends.
*Bike, Walk or Use Public Transit. Forgoing your car just one day a week for a year could save about 1,000 miles on the vehicle and $500 in total driving costs.1 You’ll not only gain extra money but all the health benefits from walking or biking as you help to reduce air pollution.
*Share a Ride. Whenever possible, share a ride by carpooling or vanpooling to your destination. To find a carpool partner or vanpool, visit 511ny.org.

The forecast for an Air Quality Action Day typically is determined a day ahead of the actual day. Clean Air NY will alert you to an upcoming Air Quality Action Day through an Air Quality Action Day Update. The update will arrive via e-mail or text message with information on how to improve air quality and to avoid air pollution effects on the Action Day.

May usually begins the season for Air Quality Action Days, so be sure to sign up today to receive your updates from Clean Air NY by visiting CleanAirNY.org or text air to 42269. We also suggest that you start trying the travel behaviors we’ve outlined now to be ready when Air Quality Action Days are announced.

Jessica Horne is Marketing and Outreach Associate of Clean Air NY.

Ozone Pollution Amplifies Risk of Fatal Respiratory Illnesses

A study was recently released by the New England Journal of Medicine showing the deadly effects of long-term exposure to ozone pollution. The study followed almost 450,000 Americans in 96 metropolitan areas and results showed that exposure to ozone pollution increases deaths from respiratory diseases.

In the USA Today Article below, Ms. Janice Nolen, Assistant Vice President of National Policy and Advocacy for the American Lung Association, was quoted as saying “the study shows yet another way that air pollution can harm public health.”

This further strengthens the importance of public service initiatives such as Clean Air NY. Sponsored by the New York State Department of Transportation, Clean Air NY is a network of individuals, employers, employees, and community organizations in the New York metro area committed to the idea that every person can take part in making our air cleaner and healthier.

Some of the actions that Clean Air NY is taking include:

* Sending real-time Air Quality Action Day updates via text messages and e-mail notifications on days when air quality is forecasted to be in the unhealthy range.

* Working with employers, community groups, universities, and the general public to promote alternative travel behaviors such as taking mass transit, trip chaining, carpooling, bicycling and walking, especially on Air Quality Action Days.

* Partnering with local transportation management associations and organizations to help New Yorkers find alternative, "greener" transportation options - including a free carpool matching service

For a copy of the full USA Today article, check out:

Ozone Pollution Amplifies Risk of Fatal Respiratory Illnesses
By Liz Szabo, USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-03-11-ozone-illness_N.htm

For a copy of the New England Journal of Medicine abstract, check out:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/360/11/1085

Where in New York has Clean Air NY been spreading the word?

Despite the cold outside, we can still do our part to clean our air! During January and February, Clean Air NY has promoted smart travel choices that everyone can make to improve New York’s air quality. We’ve been carpooling or taking public transit (always practicing what we preach – see page 3 of Clean Air Connections) to events, meetings and presentations all over the New York metro area.

Since air quality affects everyone, Clean Air NY’s outreach is aimed at educating all sectors of society. We’ve been really busy doing just that! The following activity highlights will show what Clean Air NY has been up to in these past several weeks:

· January 23 – Attended the Queens Green Business Summit. After speaking with representatives from various Queens-based businesses, we learned many people are choosing smarter, greener ways to commute, but more outreach is needed. Therefore, we signed up 25 companies and 30 individuals to join the Clean Air NY Network. These environmentally conscious businesses have committed to assist Clean Air NY in telling their co-workers, friends and family members that simple changes in their commuting habits can improve our air quality.

· January 28 – Presented to the Riverhead Town Energy Advisory Committee. They were intrigued to learn during our “We Can All Make a Difference” presentation that driving one mile in your car releases the equivalent of a one-pound brick of carbon dioxide into the air and it takes one tree one month to turn that one-pound brick of carbon dioxide into oxygen.

· January 31 – Attended the Bedford Environmental Summit (where we saw journalist Bob Woodruff and actor Chevy Chase!). We told many of the 1,000 attendees to avoid topping off their gas tanks because that simple act would improve their air quality. To learn more simple steps to achieve cleaner air, check out Clean Air NY: Everyday Choices Make a Difference.

· February 4 – Participated in four area colleges’ National Teach-In on Global Warming; they included Bard College, Marist College, Purchase College and Queens College. Roger Drew, New York Public Interest Research Group Project Coordinator at Purchase College, said: "The participation of Clean Air NY and MetroPool really enhanced our Sustainability Fair. The Fair was part of the National Teach-In on Global Warming Solutions and Clean Air NY and MetroPool's presence allowed dozens of students to stop by and learn about steps they can take to lead a more environmentally sustainable life by making smart travel choices."

· February 17 – Presented at the Rockland Business Association’s (RBA) Green Council Meeting. Clean Air NY launched our Clean Air NY Champion initiative to dozens of businesses in Rockland County. More about the Clean Air NY Champion initiative is here.

These activities resulted in 250 new individuals and 50 new businesses joining the Clean Air NY Network. So can you! To join the Clean Air NY Network and to receive real-time air-quality action day updates, visit CleanAirNY.org or text AIR to 42269.