“Help me keep our air clean and safe to breathe. Let’s work together to find more sustainable solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stop climate change.”
Air Pollution: Who’s Polluting the Air?
- Make a diorama showing all of the pollution sources near your school.
- Make sure you label and identify the types of pollution.
- Sources of air pollution can be categorized into four general types:
- Mobile sources from cars, busses, or planes
- Stationary sources from power plants oil refineries, or factories
- Area sources such as agriculture, cities, and open burning;
- Natural sources such as wildfires and volcanoes.
- To learn more click here.
- Find out who are the top ten air polluters in your area.
- Work with your county or city to make stronger laws to eliminate pollution.
- Start a local letter-writing campaign to promote healthy living through clean air.
- Explain in simple words to politicians why the community air quality must be improved immediately.
My Local Air Quality: What Should I know?
- Contact the medical community and ask questions about human health and the impact of air pollution.
- Invite them to speak at your school or community center.
- Contact your local Air Quality Management or Pollution Control District.
- Request an air quality report of your area and the sources of air pollution.
- Bring a copy of the report to school and share it with your classmates.
- Find out what industrial and manufacturing facilities are in your area and the types of air pollutants they emit.
- Contact an industrial facility, such as a power plant or refinery.
- Ask them to explain the types of air pollution control equipment they use to keep the air safe.
- Invite them to speak to your class.
- Give a talk at your school, community center, or local hospital on air pollutants in your area.
- Identify the sources and types of air pollutants impacting your air quality.
- The information is not always being given out by the polluters so those of us who love the environment need to do it.
- Identify options that can be used to help improve air quality.
- Communicate these options with your teacher, principal, religious leader or city councilperson.
Climate Change: Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Volunteer to plant trees in neighborhoods.
- Plants use carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, and can help reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
- Protect trees in the forest.
- Write letters to community leaders about protecting our forests from fires, clear-cutting, and other types of forest destruction.
- Encourage your county or city to implement a free tree replacement policy for all tree removals especially by utilities.
- Volunteer or join a climate change advocacy or activist group in your area.
- A major source of air pollution and greenhouse gases comes from the combustion of gasoline and diesel used for transportation.
- Encourage your friends and family to use alternative and sustainable forms of transportation such as walking, bicycles, scooters, rollerblades, Segways, hybrid vehicles, or electric cars and buses.
- Vehicles fueled by gasoline, diesel, and Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) emit carbon dioxide.
- Investigate using renewable forms of electricity such as solar energy, wind power (wind turbines), hydroelectric power, geothermal energy, and wave power.
- Determine what renewable energy sources are available in your community.
- Share this information with classmates in a poster or presentation.
- Encourage your parents to buy fruits and vegetables from local growers, such as going to a farmer’s market.
- Some grocery stores offer local food products.
- It is healthier and we can reduce carbon dioxide emissions generated from shipping food from far away places.
- Plant an organic vegetable garden and encourage your parents to consider planting fruit trees.
- Plants consume carbon dioxide and a garden allows you to grow some of your own foods.
- Eating fresh fruits and vegetables are good for you and the environment.
- Determine the amount of carbon dioxide to produce one pound of beef (Climate Change Food Calculator).
- Raising animals for consumption contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.
- Reduce the amount of meat and dairy products you eat each week.