Pauli Ojea: Spare the Air this Summer

Ah, summertime! It's the season for sun-bathing, surfing and ... smog. Smog? In San Francisco? It's true; even here in the beautiful Bay Area, we experience a significant amount of air pollution. In the summertime, clear skies, warm days and low winds, combined with the usual traffic and energy use, create higher than normal levels of air pollution.

What is Smog? Smog is formed when potent air pollutants combine, creating a thick, low-lying haze. High temperatures and low winds make smog worse because there is no place for the air to go. Smog causes health problems, such as coughing, wheezing, chest pains and asthma attacks. Those at greatest risk are children, seniors and people with existing medical conditions, but even a healthy person exercising outdoors can become affected.

Spare the Air
Since smog is at its worst in the summer, it's an important time for Bay Area residents to try and lessen their pollution load. On particularly warm, sunny days, when air pollution levels are elevated, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District issues a "spare the air" warning to inform residents about poor air quality. On these days, we're asked to refrain from activities that make air pollution worse.

Leave the Car at Home
Since most air pollution in the Bay Area is caused by motor vehicles, the single most important thing you can do is leave your car at home. You can eliminate a pound of air pollution per day simply by not driving. Plus, it's a great time of the year to take a walk or ride a bicycle.

Take public transportation, ride a bike, or walk to work. Great transit information is available online at www.511.org or by calling 511.

Set up or join an existing carpool. Call Bay Area RIDES for more carpool info at (800) 775-7665.

Telecommute if your employer allows it.

Combine all of your errands into one trip. Starting the engine up once its already cooled down creates the most air pollution. Don't top off your fuel tank when filling up; spilled gasoline creates about two tons of air pollution a day.

Turn off the Lights
The more energy we use at home, the longer our power plants have to run. These power plants are also emitting air pollution and the less demand we put on them, the less they'll have to operate.

Turn down the air conditioning, or try using a fan instead.

Turn off the lights when you leave a room.

Unplug appliances when you're not using them.

Turn off your computer screen when you leave your desk for more than 15 minutes and turn the computer off completely if you'll be gone for a few hours.

Avoid Aerosol ­ most aerosol spray products contain chemicals that aggravate air pollution. On spare the air days, try to avoid using aerosol paints, hair sprays, deodorants, furniture polish and cooking sprays. Most household paints also contain smog-forming pollutants, so try to avoid those as well.

Motorized equipment, like mowers, edgers and some leaf blowers, also contribute to air pollution so put the lawn work aside until the weather gets a bit cooler. If the grass can't wait, use an electric or old-fashioned push mower.

Hot Days and Hot Dogs
Unfortunately, when you fire up the grill, you also send up some smog-forming compounds into the air. No matter what kind of grill you have, it's best not to use it on a spare the air day. If you must flip a burger, wait until evening when it's not as hot.

Taking some simple actions this summer will help ensure our air quality will be better and all of our residents a bit healthier. Please do your part by paying attention to spare the air warnings and following some of the tips above. To find out when it's a spare the air day, you can call (800) HELP-AIR for daily forecasts or visit www.sparetheair.org to receive automatic air-quality alerts. Most radio and television stations will announce spare the air days as part of the weather forecast or as special public service announcements. Together, we can all ensure a better quality of life in the Bay Area.

Pauli Ojea works with the School Education Program at SF Environment. To learn more about what the City is doing to protect air quality, call (415) 355-3700 or visit www.sfenvironment.com.