Today is Clean Air Day

Led by Global Action Plan, Clean Air Day brings together communities, businesses, schools and the health sector to:

• Improve public understanding of air pollution
• Build awareness of how air pollution affects our health.
• Explain the easy actions we can all do to tackle air pollution, helping to protect the environment and our health.

It can be difficult to know what we can do to help air quality but here are a few tips;

 

Give the car a day off  

Leaving the car at home for short local journeys can make a huge difference not just to air quality but for our health and wellbeing. A few car free days a week can make a huge difference.

 

Does your School have School Street status?

Lewisham have made school streets at 16 schools in the borough. This means that cars are banned from certain streets around schools at school drop off and pick up times reducing pollution and making those streets safer for parents and children. This makes cycling scooting and walking much safer, especially to those new to cycling. Why not give it a go or ask your school about making your street a school street?

Find out more about School Streets

 

Turn your engine off 

Vehicles sitting with their engines running are a huge contributor to air pollution. When waiting for someone remember to turn your engine off and encourage others to do so. A Penalty Charge Notice of £80 will be issued to any vehicle observed idling by a London Borough of Lewisham Civil Enforcement Officer. This applies to any vehicle that is not in a traffic jam, so always remember to turn your engine off when not driving.

Vehicles which are idling can be reported by telephone or by email.                                        Telephone: 02087875397 (option 5).

Email: LewishamParking@NSLServices.co.uk. Please add in the subject line Idling Vehicle Report FAO On-Street.

 

Try to limit non-essential deliveries

We’ve all had lots more deliveries over the last year but limiting the amount of deliveries we have can make a huge difference to the amount of cars on the road.

By each of us changing our habits just a little, we can make a difference to the air quality in Lewisham. There are also several apps to help you monitor the air quality in your area.

 

Download the Lewisham Air App

The Lewisham Air app will help you find out what the air quality is each day. Created by Kings College London, Lewisham Air gives you the chance to check the air quality in the borough and plan low-pollution walking and cycling routes using a specially-designed map.You can download Lewisham Air from the Apple Store or Google Play. Search ‘Lewisham Air’ to download the app.

Find out more about the Lewisham Air App

 

• You can download a forecasting app for your phone from the LondonAir website or you can sign up to a daily email alert.

 

• You can also get information from the Breathe London network, where you can see current and average air quality levels from their monitoring network.