Wednesday is Another Spare the Air Day

A Spare the Air Day has been called for Wednesday. It is the fourth such alert in the San Francisco Bay Area for the summer season. 

“Air quality is expected to be unhealthy again in the Bay Area,” said Air District Executive Officer Jack Broadbent. “Hot temperatures and tailpipe exhaust contribute to unhealthy smog, so it is important that we all reduce our driving every day and take precautions to protect our health.”

Automobile exhaust is the single largest source of air pollution in the Bay Area, according to Kristine Roselius of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. "There are usually between 3 million and 4 million cars per day on Bay Area roads," she said.  "There are 5.2 million cars registered in the nine-county Bay Area region."

Hot temperatures and light winds will combine to produce poor air quality for the Bay Area.
 
To help prevent smog, consider the following:
 

•       Bike to work or around town
•       Take public transit
•       Work at home or telecommute
•       Carpool and link your errands to reduce driving
•       Avoid using gas-powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers
•       Reduce household energy use
•       Don’t use lighter fluid on the barbecue
•       Avoid using aerosol spray cleaners, paints and hairspray

No wood-burning ban is in place, and no free public transit will be provided, according to the air district.

To plan your commute by alternative modes, visit 511.org.
 

Visit the Apple App Store to download the free Spare the Air iPhone application for alert notifications, local air quality forecasts, podcasts and several tools to help reduce air pollution like the aforementioned bike route mapper.

To monitor current air quality conditions, visit sparetheair.org.