Small Changes Can Lead to Big Results
Even seemingly tiny adjustments to our everyday lives can improve our air quality in measurable ways. Check out the little steps you can take below, and know that every move we make toward cleaner air makes a tremendous difference when we’re all on the journey together.
Drive Less
Carpool, take the bus, walk or bike whenever possible. Think about journeys you go on which are less than a mile, and consider walking or biking. Consolidate your shopping and run all your errands in one trip.
Buy Electric
The next time you’re in the market for a lawnmower, edger, snowblower or even a car, research the electric options. With advances in technology, electric brands have comparable prices and performance. And, electric engines are quiet — you’ll be saving your ears, too.
Start a Compost Pile
Anytime we keep waste out of landfills, we improve air quality. Landfills generate emissions, and garbage trucks also contribute to ground-level ozone pollution. Instead of throwing away your scrap veggies and lawn waste, compost them. Your garden will thank you.
Turn Off Your Engine
If your car will be idling for more than 30 seconds, it takes more gas to keep the engine on than to turn it off and restart it. Whether you’re in the pick-up or drop-off lane at school, you’re in a drive-thru line or you’re waiting in a driveway, turn your ignition off.
Fill Up at Night
When you delay filling your gas tank until later in the day, you allow the toxic fumes to disperse overnight. Plus, the heat of the day exacerbates the emissions, so it’s better to wait until it’s cooler to visit the gas station.
Switch to Natural Gas
If you have a wood-burning fireplace, consider converting it to gas. Burning wood, or any other types of materials like leaves or trash, releases pollutants into our atmosphere.
Select Biofuels
Use cleaner-burning, renewable biofuels when filling your vehicle’s gas tank to reduce greenhouse gases by 42% and remove toxic tailpipe emissions from the air. Ethanol and biodiesel blends are available locally. Vehicles 2001 and newer can use E15, and flex-fuel engines can use any ethanol blend.
Maintain Your Vehicles
Make sure your engines are tuned, your tires are inflated properly and your vehicles are in good working order to ensure maximum efficiency. The better your engines are operating, the more efficiently they will burn gasoline (and the less emissions they will emit).
Choose Safe Products
When purchasing cleaning solutions, paints and other chemical-based products, look for environmentally-safe brands. Some of these types of products are made with smog-forming chemicals that evaporate into the air upon use. Follow manufacturers’ recommendations and be sure to seal these products properly.
Become A Clean Air Champion
All of us prefer breathing clean, fresh air — and it takes all of us to make sure our air stays that way all year long, for generations to come. What does being a Clean Air Champion involve?
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Sign Up
Simply fill out our pledge form to commit to improving our air quality. We promise we won’t share your information with anyone. We will send you our e-newsletter, which has announcements, tips and other interesting news about our campaign.
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Take Some Steps
Improving our air quality is a long-term endeavor. It requires all of us to think about the consequences of some of our actions and change a few of our daily habits to ensure our air is the best it can be.
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Spread the Word
Being a Clean Air Champion means committing to improving our air quality, and taking little steps toward that goal. That’s it! If it’s that easy, anyone can do it, so spread the word! Forward our e-newsletter, share our posts on social media, share our steps (and your steps!) with your network and ask them to be a Clean Air Champion, too!
These companies and organizations have committed to improving our air quality on an enterprise-wide level. We applaud their efforts to take these big steps, and encourage all our Clean Air Champions to support these leaders.
- MAPA
- City of Omaha
- Nebraska Environmental Trust
- OPPD
- Emspace + Lovgren
- Nebraska Ethanol Board
- Verdis Group
- Metro Transit
- Douglas County Health Department
- Nebraska Corn Board
Take the Pledge
Become a Clean Air Champion by pledging to take little steps in your life to improve our air quality. Join our movement today!