Cheshire West and Chester Council is supporting this year’s Clean Air Day on Thursday (21st June) by providing free Park & Ride travel in Chester.
Clean Air Day is an initiative to encourage us to do our bit to clean up the air around us on the longest day of the year, with Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Park & Ride service using buses with more environmentally friendly ‘enviro-clear’ engine technology.
The council’s cabinet member for environment, Councillor Karen Shore said: “There are lots of simple things we can all do to improve air quality and look after our own and other people’s health.
“Clean Air Day is a chance to find out more about air pollution, share information with friends and colleagues, and help make the air cleaner and healthier for everyone.”
She added: “If you’re travelling in Chester, Clean Air Day is an ideal opportunity to try the Park & Ride for free if you’ve never given it a go before.”
Park & Ride locations, routes, and timetables can be found on the council’s website.
Tips offered to help clean up the air around us include:
- Try ways to use the car less.
- If you have children at school, talk to other parents at your child’s school to make a better school run. Car sharing or a walking bus often reduces traffic at the school gate by 30 per cent – a sure fire way to make the air cleaner for children.
- With cars, vans and lorries responsible for so much air pollution, low-emission electric vehicles (EVs) are the future. When you upgrade your car, explore an electric, hybrid or Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) model.
- If you have to drive, avoid engine idling. Turning a vehicle’s engine off while stationary protects the health of people in the car behind and on the pavement.
- Wood-burning stoves look great and they’re so cosy but burning wood produces a lot of air pollutants. To minimise your contribution to air pollution buy a Defra-approved stove, use authorised fuel, and only light it when you really have to.
Clean Air Day is organised by the charity Global Action Plan. Their website has a wide range of resources and toolkits to help communities, schools and workplaces to improve air quality. (www.cleanairday.org.uk)
