What you can do to improve outdoor air quality : Canadian Lung Association

Pollution & air quality

Outdoor air quality

What you can do to improve outdoor air quality

There are many ways you can reduce outdoor air pollution. Here are some ideas:

Things you can do to reduce air pollution – on a smog day:

Don’t idle your vehicle.
Don’t use gas or diesel-powered equipment, including lawnmowers and barbecues.
Turn off non-essential lights and electronics.
Don’t use pesticides.
Don’t paint.

Everyday things you can do to reduce outdoor air pollution – around home:

Use paints with low volatile-organic compounds (VOCs) and avoid oil-based paint.
Avoid using chemical products. If you do use them, make sure you seal the lids tightly.
Use energy-efficient appliances.
Reduce your heating needs by making your house more energy efficient. Find out about government programs that test your home’s energy-efficiency and give grants to help pay for the cost of improving your home’s energy efficiency.
Choose a less-polluting home heating method.
Keep your furnace, air conditioner and humidifier well maintained.
If you need to use an air conditioner, set it at a moderate temperature, around 23 degrees Celsius. When you leave the house, turn the air conditioner down.
In the winter, heat your house to 20 degrees or less when you’re up, lower when you’re in bed or out of the house.
Turn off non-essential lights and unplug appliances when not in use.
Avoid burning wood. If you have to burn wood, follow these precautions to reduce pollution.
Don’t burn things in your yard. It’s especially harmful to burn garbage, plastics, cardboard, wrapping paper, particleboard, styrofoam, painted or treated wood, or wood taken from saltwater.
Don’t use chimineas or other outdoor fireplaces.
Garden without pesticides.
Use hand-powered garden tools. Avoid using gasoline or diesel-powered equipment such as lawnmowers and leaf-blowers.
Compost leaves, garden trimmings, and kitchen waste.

Everyday things you can do to reduce outdoor air pollution – getting around:

Try not to use a car- walk, bike, carpool, or take public transit.
Consider car sharing- join a car co-op in your city of town. Car sharing co-ops allow members to pick up cars from parking lots around town and use them for a fixed period of time. Car co-op members pay a small monthly fee to cover fixed costs, and pay a modest additional hourly and per-kilometer fee for their actual usage. Sharing cars means less cost for members and less pollution. Compared to owning a car privately, each car co-op member reduces their driving by as much as 50%, which means a reduction of 1.2 tonnes of CO2 every year. Each shared car replaces 6-8 cars that would otherwise be on the roads.
Most Canadians live in a city or town that offers car sharing- here’s a list of car sharing cooperatives across Canada.

Everyday things you can do to reduce outdoor air pollution – on the road:

If you do drive, plan ahead. Make one trip with several stops, instead of separate trips.
Don’t idle. If you stop for more than 10 seconds, turn the engine off. Ten seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting the engine ¹.
Avoid aggressive driving. Tests show that rapid stops and starts can increase fuel use by about 40 per cent – and only reduce travel time by about 4 per cent ².
Drive more slowly. Reducing your speed from 120 to 90km/hr will decrease fuel consumption by about 20%.³
Use overdrive and high gears. Aim for the lowest engine RPM by selecting the highest gear for your speed, whenever possible.
Be aerodynamic. Keep your windows rolled up when driving on the highway to cut wind resistance. Less drag means less fuel consumed.
Minimize your use of air conditioning. Using your air conditioner in stop-and-go traffic can increase fuel consumption by as much as 20%.⁴
Travel light. The heavier the vehicle, the more fuel it burns. Avoid unnecessary weight.
Tune-up regularly. A tune-up can improve the fuel efficiency of your car by 15% and up to 50% if your car has not been regularly maintained ⁵.
Check tire pressure. Properly inflated tires improve fuel efficiency. Driving your vehicle with just one tire under inflated by 6 psi can reduce the life of the tire by 10,000 km and increase fuel consumption by 3%, costing you extra money and releasing more pollution into the air ⁶.
Make sure wheels are aligned and balanced, and ball joints or constant velocity joints are well lubricated.
Have your brakes checked. Brakes that drag can decrease fuel efficiency by up to 40 per cent.
Clean or replace spark plugs and oil filters; this will help keep fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions down.
Gas up your vehicle before sunrise or after sundown.
Take care not to spill gasoline when filling a tank. Don’t top up- when the gas pump automatically shuts off as you’re filling the tank, don’t add more gas. This could lead to a gas spill.
Replace or service the exhaust gas recirculator (EGR) valve. It reduces the emission of a variety of greenhouse gases.
Use a timed block heater in cold weather. A block heater warms the oil and engine coolant, making it easier to start your vehicle and improving winter fuel economy by as much as 10%⁷. Set the timer to turn the block heater on about 2.5 hours before you plan to start your vehicle. Avoid plugging the vehicle in overnight.
Have your catalytic converter replaced or serviced regularly.
If you’re thinking about buying a new car, pay close attention to fuel efficiency. Chose a car that’s fuel-efficient, buy a hybrid, or find a way of living without a car (car sharing, etc.)

Everyday things you can do to reduce outdoor air pollution – around work:

Avoid using a vehicle to get to work. Try car-pooling, take public transit, walk, or ride your bike.
Try teleconferencing and telecommuting, to avoid unnecessary travel.
Turn off non-essential lights.

Everyday things you can do to reduce smog – in your community:

Advocate for cleaner air – tell your elected officials at the national, provincial and local level that you care about clean air, and vote for parties and candidates who support clean air legislation
Support and abide by laws intended to clean the air, like pesticide bans and laws against idling your car
Lead by example

Things you can do to reduce indoor air pollution

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References

Compiled list of quick facts from Environment Canada's page on reducing air pollution

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