On California Clean Air Day, here’s how you can help each other breathe easier

California deals with some of the worst air pollution in the United States. In each of the three categories tracked by the American Lung Association — ozone, year-round particle pollution and short-term particle pollution — California cities make up at least six of the top ten most polluted spots.

If those rankings bother you, today is a day to take action: it’s the fourth annual California Clean Air Day. The project, organized by the Coalition for Clean Air, is a day meant to encourage personal changes that can help reduce air pollution in the state.

Brian Sheridan, the development engagement director at the Coalition for Clean Air, said the event originated as a response to how Californians were reacting to knowledge of the pollution. Sheridan said, in general, people had one of two reactions: “oh my goodness this is overwhelming, I cannot deal with it” or “I didn’t know we have an air pollution issue.”

“Neither of those are very good responses,” said Sheridan, who is leading the coalition’s Clean Air Day event.

Here are ways you can productively respond to the air pollution problem:

‘Idling gets you nowhere’: Take a pledge

On the Clean Air Day website, cleanairday.org, you can take one of three pledges outlining changes you can make to help curb air pollution. There’s a pledge for individuals, organizations and kids.

The individual pledge includes three categories —switch it out, plant something and reduce vehicle emissions — where you can promise to take specific actions like carpooling, planting a tree or buying local produce.

The pledge for kids offers ideas such as biking to school, doing an air quality experiment and giving a class report on the environment. Kids can also pledge to ask their parents to stop idling in their cars. Sheridan said this is often a problem when parents drive to school early in order to nab the best spot in a pick up line.

“In most cases they don’t really realize what they’re doing but [idling is] actually releasing harmful carbon dioxide where kids are actually waiting to be picked up,” Sheridan said. “We tell them hey, idling gets you nowhere.”

Organizations can also pledge to engage employees, customers and clients on the clean air issue by hosting events, sending out messaging and providing incentives for behavior changes.

Ride transit for free

Sacramento Regional Transit is offering free rides across all its systems Wednesday. El Dorado Transit, San Joaquin Regional Transit District, Vacaville City Coach and Yolo County Transportation District will also offer free rides.

Head to a Clean Air Day Event

There’s a variety of in-person events you can attend on Clean Air Day, and a full accounting of the events going on across the state is available online. In the Sacramento area, you can attend:

• A tree planting in Carmichael at the La Sierra Community Center. Volunteers need to bring a water bottle, mask, work gloves and shovel, according to the Kiwanis Club of Carmichael, which is organizing the event.
• A UC Davis Clean Air Day event that will also include a tree planting as well as free bike safety checks and a succulent planting demonstration. The event kicks off at 9 a.m. outdoors at 4610 X Street, and all attendees must be vaccinated and wear a mask at the event.
• The Sacramento Transportation Management Association will provide information tables including cookies and handouts with details on how to help clean the air. People can gather between the two buildings located at 1515 S Street before biking to Southside Park as well, according to the event description.
• Habitat For Humanity of Greater Sacramento’s Rock the Block will take place Friday and Saturday. Volunteers can sign up to help repair homes and engage in other community projects in South Oak Park. Volunteers can sign up online.

Attend events virtually

California Clean Air Day is also hosting a multitude of virtual events, including a book reading and talk with an author of a children’s book about fighting for a new electric school bus and a Friday webinar on the California Air Resources Board’s 2021 report on hydrogen-fueled electric vehicles.

You can also engage in California Clean Air Day by using the right tags and hashtags on social media. Across all platforms, you can tag @CleanAirDay and hashtag #CleanAirDayCA in your posts, Sheridan said.

And if you’re wondering how much impact you, as an individual, can have without more aggressive regulations and policies to help reduce air pollution, Sheridan had this to add:

“When people act, it actually gives our policymakers the confidence to say, oh yeah, maybe I will push for this thing because I see people in my neighborhood who are doing these things,” he said. “When people adopt electric vehicles, we get more aggressive on electric vehicle policies.”

What do you want to know about life in California? Ask our Utility Team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email utilityteam@sacbee.com.

This story was originally published October 6, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "On California Clean Air Day, here’s how you can help each other breathe easier."