On California Clean Air Day, Pledge to Take Action

Organizers of California Clean Air Day are asking individuals and companies to pledge to take small actions that support clean air efforts on Wednesday - and every day.

Individuals can pledge to take "easy actions" like taking public transit, walking, biking or scootering to work or shop. Buying local produce, planting a tree or a home garden, changing a home's energy plan to use renewable sources are all changes that individuals can pledge to make. More substantial actions could be to install solar panels, switch gas-powered appliances and tools to electric ones, and reduce one's meat intake.

The Coalition for Clean Air also offers suggestions for companies to take action, depending on the work they do. That could include anything from encouraging employees to work remotely to changing commercial fleets to clean fuels to hosting an event.

Clean Air Day events are happening throughout the state - find them here.

A number of transit agencies (Santa Monica, Sacramento, Foothill Transit, LA Metro, Burbank and others) are offering free rides on Wednesday. There are also celebrations at farmers markets, tree planting events, walk and roll to school days, poster contests for kids, bike rides and hikes, and even a cooking demonstration using an induction stove (in Morgan Hill).

The Coalition for Clean Air is holding this sixth annual event as a "unified day of action" to help educate and inform Californians about air quality issues. It also gets companies and organizations to make public commitments to clean up their emissions. For now, the impact of Clean Air Day is measured in numbers reached and pledges made. It's a start.