3 Simple Tips To Preserve Clean Air

We all deserve to breathe clean air. It’s essential to our health and benefits our surroundings. The good news is that simple choices can lead to a big impact on improving air quality. Here are three things you can start doing today to help preserve clean air.

Ensuring proper air pressure in your car tires does more than save you money. A car that runs efficiently, including by maintaining tire pressure, reduces emissions that contribute to air pollution.

A study found that most of the cars traveling on our highways are operating on tires inflated to only 80 percent of capacity. According to fueleconomy.gov , gas mileage can improve by 0.6% on average—up to 3% in some cases—by keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure. “Under-inflated tires can lower gas mileage by about 0.2% for every 1 psi drop in the average pressure of all tires. Properly inflated tires are safer and last longer,” the site said.

2. Grow a pesticide-free garden.

Gardening is growing as a popular pastime for many apartment dwellers and with good reason. It’s fun to eat fresh fruits and vegetables that you’ve grown and picked yourself. But if you want to improve air quality, leave the pesticides in the can.

“Pesticides in agriculture and urban settings have the potential to contaminate our air, affecting human, animal, and plant health.,” explained the National Pesticide Information Center . “Some pesticide ingredients stay in the atmosphere for only a short period of time, while others can last longer. Pesticides released into the air can settle to the ground, be broken down by sunlight and water in the atmosphere, or dissipate into the surrounding air.”

3. Reduce air-conditioner use.

There’s nothing quite like a California evening. Take advantage of that cool ocean breeze by turning off your air conditioner and opening windows to cool your apartment. Air conditioners are a welcome relief from those sticky August afternoons, but they require large amounts of energy to operate, and that takes a toll on the environment and air quality. By using your air conditioner sparingly and relying mostly on windows, you will be improving your air while it keeps you cool.

We can all do our part to improve air quality. By ensuring our vehicles are in great working condition, reducing our reliance on harmful chemicals, and relying on nature to cool our apartments, we can breathe a little easier, knowing that our air quality is staying clean and healthy.