October 3, 2018 marks the observance of California Clean Air Day. To learn more, visit the California Clean Air Day Web site here. This, by the way, is the very first year this event is to take place. Here’s to many more such events to follow.
Businesses, educational institutions, individuals, industrial concerns, health facilities, utilities, and more – you name it – can get involved.
Ways to participate could include:
- Taking public transportation or walking or riding a bike to work instead of driving
- Turning off lights when not in use
- Lowering the thermostat or, when leaving the home, turning the thermostat off
- Unplugging unused appliances
- Washing clothes and linens in “cold” as opposed to “warm” or “hot” water
- Carpooling instead of solo commuting
- Starting a recycling program at work to lower the amount of waste material going to landfills
Why stop there?! Environmentally-promotionally speaking, the sky’s the limit here folks!
Fantastic it is that there is support for this.
Personally, I do not believe asking one to take part and do their part is asking a lot. Any effort to improve the air that we all breathe is commendable.
But, I gotta ask. If I didn’t I would be remiss. Taking one day to do one’s part to lessen negative impact on area air whether it is all across California or the entire United States for that matter, does this go far enough? A legitimate question I believe this to be.
I will say this though: While California Clean Air Day is indeed laudable, commendable, and forward-thinking, not to mention, inspiring, my point is: why stop with this one western state and for just one 24-hour period on one day of the year to, as it were, help clean Golden State air?
From where I sit the more that become involved and the longer the program time frame the better.
It’s a great start, though, I will say that!
Image above: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
This post was last revised on May 25, 2020 @ 6:37 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time.
– Alan Kandel