Air Quality Awareness Week marks the beginning of smog season and is an annual opportunity for all of us to review issues surrounding air quality in our communities and the precautions we need to take to ensure our family’s health.

What is Smog?
Smog is another term for ground level ozone, which is formed when nitrogen oxide (NOx)combines with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the presence of sunlight. NOx are a by-product of fossil fuel combustion (oil, natural gas, coal) and so come from cars and trucks, power plants, and industrial processes.  (definition via MothersandOthersforCleanAir.org)

Exposure to many pollutants in the air can result in a range of adverse health effects from shortness of breath and coughing to heart attacks and lung cancer. Check out Mothers and Others’ Health Effects of Bad Air Fact Sheet for more information.

Georgia Guide to Air Qualilty Awareness Week
1. World Asthma Day
May begins with World Asthma Day on May1! Join me at at the Fulton County Health & Wellness event “Asthma Awareness: Putting the Pieces Together.” In an effort to combat asthma, the Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness, Division of Health Promotion, is launching the Fulton Asthma Improvement and Reduction (FAIR) program to focus on the state of asthma in Fulton County. The FAIR kick off panel discussion will raise awareness about asthma and allow participants to share strategies for improving asthma care throughout Fulton County. The event is May 1, 10am – 2 pm at the Fulton County Aldredge HealthCenter. Click here to register! Seating is limited.

2. Get Informed: Air Quality 101
As smog season 2012 approaches, please consider making a commitment to at least one personal action to reduce your contribution to smog this summer. At the same time, ensure you have the tools you need to reduce your and your family’s exposure to smog by bookmarking Georgia Environmental Protection’s air quality forecast site and reviewing and sharing Mothers & Others guidance documents on outdoor air quality and physical activity.

3. Clean Air Campaign
The Clean Air Campaign invites schools to observe the week by incorporating activities on air quality, sources and types of air pollution, and actions to reduce air pollution and improve health in their school community.
For Clean Air Schools, Air Quality Awareness Week is a prime occasion to celebrate the pounds of pollution your school has already taken out of the air through No-Idling, Ride the Bus! For Clean Air and Pool to School programs.
Teachers can download the 2012 teacher’s guides for planning tips, air pollution resources and classroom activities at the Clean Air Campaign Website.

4. M&O School Air Quality Index (AQI) Flag Program
Many school nurses, principals and teachers are concerned about high rates of asthma among students and faculty. They welcome the flag program as a way to ensure all staff, as well as parents who see the flag when dropping off their children, are aware when air pollution concentrations are high. Flying a flag that corresponds to the day’s air quality index—green, yellow, orange or red—makes air quality forecasts highly visible to the school community, including parents, faculty, staff and children. In addition, the flags are flown daily, in contrast to the smog alert system that only comes into play if the air is unhealthy. As a result, while taking precautions when the flag is orange or red, teachers and coaches can celebrate green days and use the green flag as a visual cue to get active outdoors when air quality is good.
Mothers & Others for Clean Air is expanding the AQI flag program to other Georgia schools as we head into the 2011 smog season. Contact Mothers & Others if your school is interested in participating.
More information can be found here

5. Mothers & Others for Clean Air Newsletter
This is a comprehensive resource for your need to know information on local clean air initiatives, legislation, updates, health information, resources and events. If you would like to receive the newsletter please contact rebecca@mocleanair.org

6. Check the Air Quality Index
Georgians can check their Air Quality Index here
Additional Resources for National Clean Air Information-
NOAA’s Air Quality Awareness Week Resources
EPA’s Air Quality Awareness Week Resources
AirNow.gov Local Air Quality Conditions and Forecasts
GINA

Captain Planet and I are packing up for the Mobilize the Earth™ rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Earth Day! I am so excited to be asked to speak at the National Mall on Earth Day 2012.

The rally on the National Mall, America’s premier national park, is the centerpiece of the global Earth Day and part of a vast network of Earth Day events around the world.  More than one billion people in 192 countries participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world. Earth Day Network, who organizes the global Earth Day, has set the theme for Earth Day 2012 as Mobilize the Earth.
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“Foul Water Fiery Serpent,” a documentary feature film that follows dedicated health workers — including  Carter Center staff and national health partners, as well as former U.S. President Jimmy Carter — engaged in a final battle to eradicate Guinea worm disease in Africa, will air on American Public Television stations nationwide beginning April 1. This film can be painful to watch in some parts but it chronicles a vital program that is near and dear to President Carter and has made huge strides towards eradication. (more…)

The League of Conservation Voters has started their GiveGreen campaign to help you directly support politicians with pro-environment policies.

The 2012 election season will be the most expensive in history, and pro-environment candidates will need to raise more money than ever to run hard-hitting, successful campaigns. There’s no doubt that corporate special interests will target pro-environmental champions — and their attacks will be relentless. (more…)

My dad recently wrote an op-ed for CNN on the Keystone pipeline. The Keystone XL pipeline takes on a special significance to our family because of the proposed pipeline’s proximity to our land. This is an absolute must read that breaks down the environmental issues behind stopping the Keystone XL pipeline.

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I recently returned from a trip to Ghana to support the Rotary Club of Accra Airport and the Ghana Planeteers. My visit was fun, inspiring, educational, exhausting and so many more adjectives! (more…)

One of the most remarkable effects of my dad’s Captain Planet series has been it’s global reach. The cartoon series was designed to appeal to children of all colors, faiths and experiences. Captain Planet became a hit in the country of Ghana, and today the Ghana Planeteers is one of the most active Planeteer groups in the world. I traveled to Ghana last week to speak to the Rotary Club of Accra Airport as they launch their foundation to raise money for community service projects and to support the Ghana Planeteer movement.

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In 5 minutes this young girl sums up our environmental crisis. (more…)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just released its most recent waste and recycling facts and figures, and reported that in 2010 Americans generated about 250 million tons of waste. Break it down and that means you personally throw away 4.43 pounds of refuse each day.  However, of that 250 million tons of waste, we recycled 85 million tons, for a national recycling rate of 34 percent. (more…)