This year Public Health Wales has signed up as a supporter of Clean Air Day 2019, which is taking place on 20 June.
The Clean Air Day initiative intends to raise awareness of air pollution and the problems it can cause. Air pollution is one of largest environmental risks to health. It can increase the risk of some health problems and make existing health problems worse, but there are some practical actions we can all take to help improve air quality.
Air pollution is everyone’s business. As an organisation, we can play a key role in helping to reduce air pollution and the health risks and inequalities associated with it. For example, if everyone who works for Public Health Wales walked or cycled to work one day per week, this could really help to reduce emissions from transport sources. Spreading the word and helping others to change behaviours can really make a difference; small changes can have significant impacts when taken across the whole population.
This year, we have been working with Welsh Government and Global Action Plan (the environmental charity that owns the Clean Air Day brand) to develop resources to raise awareness of problems and solutions.
We have:
• Produced posters which highlight simple, practical actions we can all take to reduce air pollution. Take a look at these when they appear around our offices and on Clean Air Day website.
• Produced short video clips describing air pollutants, sources, risks and mitigation actions, and showcased green travel examples of active travel within/across PHW
• Agreed to share and re-tweet Welsh Government-led social media messages
• Prepared an interactive social media quiz (to be run on the day)
• Organised a lunchtime cycle event for PHW staff at CQ2, Cardiff.
The Clean Air Day campaign have produced a series of pledge cards with some useful ideas on what we can do to raise awareness and reduce our impact on air pollution on #CleanAirDay.
Tweet us a picture of you with your pledge and don’t forget to include the hashtags below. If you have any other ideas or tips on how to reduce our impact on air pollution or if you are planning any local events, please get in touch and let us know using the hashtags #PHWCleanAirDay and #CleanAirDay
For more information on what Wales is doing for Clean Air Day 2019 visit: