Green Living Media Advisory: Clean Air Commute 2012 starts today - How will you get to work?
One week makes a difference - Clean Air Commute is June 18 - 24.
(3BL Media) Toronto - June 18, 2012 - Celebrating its 20th year, Pollution Probe's 2012 Clean Air Commute is a week of fun and friendly competition among workplaces to show how much they ¤ clean air! During the week, employees walk, cycle, take public transit, carpool, or telecommute rather than drive to work alone. The goal is to improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion, and in so doing, promote employee health and happiness.
Statistics:
- Last year, approximately 19,000 employees from 189 workplaces participated in Pollution Probe’s Clean Air Commute, and logged more than one million kilometers of travel by alternative modes of transportation and prevented the release of more than 480 tonnes of air pollutants over one week.
- The Ontario Medical Association estimates that more than 9,500 people in Ontario die prematurely each year from the effects of air pollution and that 16,000 people in Ontario are admitted to hospital as a result of exposure to smog, annually.
- The Toronto Board of Trade estimates that gridlock is the greatest threat to economic prosperity in the Toronto region as infrastructure under-funding is resulting in traffic congestion that is costing the region $6 billion annually. It is predicted that the annual economic loss due to traffic congestion will reach $15 billion, if left unaddressed.
The Clean Air Commute contributes measureable reductions in local air pollutants, but its key relevance is as a public awareness-building campaign about the human health and environmental impacts of air pollution – and the solutions, such as investments in safe, efficient and sustainable transportation systems. The Clean Air Commute also engages the commuting public on the economic impacts of traffic congestion.
Launched in 1993, the Clean Air Commute was the first program of its kind in Canada. Participants track how they "clean air commute" to work by filling out an online tracking tool that totals the weight of pollutants that they keep out of the air while using alternatives to driving alone. All participants are eligible for a range of prizes and awards that celebrate individual and workplace achievement during this fun and friendly competition.
Website: http://www.cleanaircommute.ca Go here to learn more and register
About the Clean Air Commute:
The Clean Air Commute is an annual event organized by Pollution Probe that encourages workplace commuters to choose more sustainable modes of transportation rather than driving to work alone. Its aim is to improve local air quality and reduce local traffic congestion, and in so doing, promote employee health and happiness.
About Pollution Probe:
Pollution Probe is a Canadian non-profit charitable organization that exists to improve the health and well being of Canadians by advancing policy that achieves positive, tangible environmental change. It works in partnership with all sectors of society to protect health by promoting clean air and clean water. Its approach is to define environmental problems through research, to promote understanding through education and to press for practical solutions through advocacy.
For further information contact:
Husam Mansour / Pollution Probe / hmansour@pollutionprobe.org / (416) 926-1907
Annette Borger / Green Living / aborger@green-living.ca (416) 988-7086
