Thursday, November 15, 2007

Breath easy Lehigh Valley: NET joins local Air Quality Partnership

NET has joined with a bi-partisan nonprofit concerning air quality in our area: Air Quality Partnership Lehigh Valley-Berks. What the group is best known for is Ozone Action Days. Ozone Action Days are days when the ozone level meets a red, or dangerous level, and all Lehigh Valley residents may ride LANTA Bus for free.

Today I attended their annual luncheon to learn more. What I learned was that the Lehigh Valley has a very low particulate matter (bad stuff) in the air in relation to our population. We have the second densest population in the state, as well as second largest industry and manufacturing concentration however we only had 3 ozone action days this year, compared to Philadelphia (first in both categories) which had 23. This is all good news. But to keep with such good numbers, we need to do our part. You can help in a number of ways.
  1. Buy locally. Think about how long it takes for an item you purchased at the store the other day to get into your home or on your dinner table. By buying local, we can cut down on emissions, especially when it comes to food, and we can help support the local economy.
  2. Carpool. Us young professionals like to live in dense populated areas. Get to know your neighbors. You may not be the only one traveling to a downtown area, or that industrial park.
  3. Use alternative transportation. Utilize LANTA, or better yet, use pedal power and bike. Walk if you can.
Together we can keep the Lehigh Valley's air clean!

Vanessa Williams
President

1 comment:

Tara said...

I just got my bike! After years of not having one, and my grocery store just down the street, I decided it was time. It's not only bad for my car to use it for 5 minute drives, but it's good for me to bike it!