Help protect yourself and your community on bad air days
Here are a few quick reminders of ways to keep emissions down and help promote clean air.
Don’t drive! Staying local on bad air days, and in general, helps cut down on vehicle emissions that result in high ozone levels. Bike, walk, or ride public transportation when possible. See Salt Lake City’s bike map here or click here for a downloadable map.
See TRAX schedules and maps here.
Air purifiers! If you can, buy a HEPA air filter for your house. HEPA air purifiers are able to filter out particles in the air that are harmful to our health. They’ve even been shown to capture viruses, like COVID. See our DIY hack with a box fan for an inexpensive solution.
Ask your local schools to get air purifiers in classrooms.
Garden! Organic gardening is growing food without synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and maintaining a healthy ecosystem by ensuring the soil’s ability to retain water and provide adequate nutrients to plants. The plants, in turn, are able to provide more of the vitamins and minerals we all need to be healthy without residues on food from synthetic chemicals from spraying.
One of the most important things you can do is advocate for large scale policy change to improve air quality. Some major contributors to pollution in Utah that we have our eye on are:
The Inland Port is drastically increasing vehicle, especially diesel truck, emissions in Utah and around the Salt Lake area. It’s a massive shipping hub (taking up nearly ⅓ of Salt Lake City) on the City’s west side.
–The proposed mine for Parley’s Canyon
Increased mining in Parley’s Canyon would surely increase an already bad dust pollution problem for Wasatch Front residents, as well as permanently damage and alter the local gem.
The Uinta Basin Railway aims to quadruple mining in the Uinta Basin, drastically increasing fossil fuels that contribute to climate change. It also brings increased emissions from dirty energy locomotives.
–Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District
Pesticide spraying conducted by the Mosquito Abatement Districts across the state produce VOCs (volatile organic compounds), which have a variety of short and long term health effects.