Clean Your Air This Summer

Summer brings everyone outdoors for parties, family bar-be-ques, swimming, Little League Baseball, FC Tucson, and other fun activities. Let’s keep our air clean and stay healthy while we’re playing, dancing, and cheering for the home team.

“Tucsonans love the outdoors, and we can help keep our air clean by following just a few easy tips,” says Ursula Nelson, Pima Department of Environmental Quality Director. “It’s especially important to reduce pollution levels which tend to be higher in the heat of summer.”

Drive smarter:

• keep tires properly inflated to increase gas mileage
• refuel in the evening to avoid sunlight “baking” vapors into ozone pollution
• check and change your air filter regularly
• idle less.

Idling vehicles get zero miles per gallon and pollute the air we breathe. Waiting for your child at soccer or baseball practice? Turn off your engine to reduce pollution in the air that your child and their teammates are breathing. Less idling also saves money on fuel.

In Pima County, about half of the air pollution comes from motor vehicles. Find ways to drive less by carpooling, combining trips, walking, biking, or scootering to your destinations in the morning or evening hours, and using public transit instead.

At your bar-be-que in the backyard or park, instead of lighter fluid, try using a charcoal chimney to heat briquettes. Who doesn’t love the flavor of mesquite-grilled food? Another clean air tip for the grill-master: burn seasoned hard wood (like oak or mesquite) instead of soft wood (like pine). 

Gas-powered lawn and garden equipment also pollutes the air we breathe and can be replaced with electric equipment through the Pima County Cut Down Pollution Lawn and Garden Equipment Replacement program. Find more clean air tips and information about vouchers for replacing your gas-powered equipment at:  www.pima.gov/HealthyAir.

Go out and enjoy that clean air with a walk or a bike ride around your neighborhood, or explore new routes along The Chuck Huckelberry Loop. Learn more at: www.pima.gov/theloop. Happy Summer!