Ashley Carroll doesn’t need to check the air quality indexes to know if it will be a bad air quality day – she can see it in her daughter’s face.
“She will wake up with dark circles under her eyes and her breathing will be wheezy,” Ashley said.
Elsa is eight years old and in the second grade at Sunset Hills Elementary School. She has one of the worst cases of asthma and allergies that her doctor has ever seen, and even the slightest abnormality can trigger an asthma attack.
“The environment affects her health quickly and dramatically. We have a heightened awareness of what is going on around her and what may affect her,” Ashley said.
Despite five daily controller medications, inhalers stashed around the Carroll house within reach of Elsa at nearly all times, and frequent breathing treatments, sometimes her asthma is so bad that she still visits the emergency room several times a year.
Air quality is a big factor impacting whether she will have an asthma attack or not.
The winter months, when the air is cool, clear and dry, is the best time of year for Elsa (which makes her chosen sport of ice skating ideal). But in the heat of summer, when the air is warm and humid, Elsa usually has to stay inside. For an active family who loves to be outside, it’s heartbreaking. But it can be a life or death situation.
“When the air quality is really poor, like from wildfires, everyone can feel it. It’s harder to breathe,” Ashley said. “That’s her reality more times than not. Air quality has a direct link to asthma deaths, and that is something we face. The time is now to improve our air quality.”
The Carroll family, which includes mom Ashley and her husband Vince, plus their three girls Ava, Elsa and Isla, are supporters of Little Steps Cleaner Air, an outreach campaign from the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency (MAPA), funded by grants from the Federal Highway Administration and the Nebraska Environmental Trust.
The Little Steps Cleaner Air campaign encourages residents in the greater Omaha metro to take small steps to improve the air quality in our area by helping reduce ground-level ozone, something the Carrolls have done in their lives, too. For example, their favorite restaurant is within walking distance of the family’s house. Using our vehicles less is critical to reducing ozone.
Other ideas for improving air quality include:
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Drive less.
Carpool, take the bus, and walk or bike whenever possible. Run all your errands in one trip to be more efficient with your fuel usage.
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Turn off your car when idling for more than 30 seconds.
Idling your car for more than 30 seconds uses more fuel than stopping and starting your engine.
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Fill your gas tanks at night.
Fumes released by the gas pump can disperse overnight if you fuel up in the evening.
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Buy an electric or manual lawn mower, or if using gas-powered equipment, mow your yard during the cooler hours of the day.
Even small engines in gas-powered mowers, leaf blowers and trimmers release as much as 25 percent of unburned gasoline into the air.
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Purchase energy efficient appliances.
The less energy you use, the less we rely on fossil fuels, which add more pollutants to the environment.
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Weatherize your home by sealing cracks and insulating your walls and attic.
You will use less energy because your heater and air conditioner won’t have to work as hard.
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Buy environmentally safe cleaning products and paint.
Recent studies have shown the environmental impact of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that come from solvents, paint, chemicals and cleaning products have been underestimated in the past, so use as little as possible.
“I do have hope for the future. I think there is a growing awareness that this is a public health issue and there is a readiness to help,” Ashley said. “You can’t underestimate the impact a small daily change can make.”