“It’s in all our interests to care about pollution,” says Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, from Lewisham, London, who lost her daughter Ella to severe asthma and now campaigns for clean air.
“This is where I think my daughter was cheated. She was ill and she wasn’t breathing clean air. That’s what we should be fighting for: for our children to breathe clean air.”
Air pollution also makes already existing inequalities worse.
Certain groups are deeply affected by poor quality air: those living in areas of most deprivation, black and ethnic minority people, pregnant women, children, older people and people with existing health conditions.
How to make our air cleaner
1. Conserve energy
Switch off fans and lights when you are going out. A large number of fossil fuels are burnt to produce electricity. You can save the environment from degradation by reducing the number of fossil fuels to be burned.
2. Understand the concept of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Do not throw away items that are of no use to you. In-fact reuse them for some other purpose. For e.g. you can use old jars to store cereals or pulses.
3. Use public mode of transportation
Encourage people to use more and more public modes of transportation to reduce pollution. Also, try to make use of carpooling. If you and your colleagues come from the same locality and have same timings you can explore this option to save energy and money.
4. Emphasis on clean energy resources
Clean energy technologies like solar, wind and geothermal are on high these days. Governments of various countries have been providing grants to consumers who are interested in installing solar panels for their home. This will go a long way to curb air pollution.
