This Thursday, 15th June, Greater Manchester will take part in the UK’s first-ever National Clean Air Day. Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is campaigning to raise awareness of air pollution and encourage individuals, businesses and schools in and around Manchester to be more environmentally considerate and pledge to take action.
As a commercial cleaning company for Manchester and the surrounding areas that are committed to providing greener cleaning services, we thought we’d put together this guide and express why the issue of air pollution is so important.
What simple changes can you make to help reduce air pollution? Have you made your #GMCleanAirDay pledge yet? https://t.co/YxtLaFlibf pic.twitter.com/ofJGI7SZae
— TfGM (@OfficialTfGM) June 13, 2017
Will You Pledge To Leave Your Car At Home On National Clean Air Day?
Using public transport instead of your car might seem like a lot to ask of anybody, but if more people commit to the pledge, air quality standards will rise and everyone will breathe cleaner air. This isn’t just about now, but for future generations too.
The very real and worrying public health risks of toxic air include:
Increased risk of stroke, heart and lung disease, lung cancer, both chronic and acute respiratory diseases.
Air pollution contributes to the early deaths of 40,000 people a year in the UK.
Theresa May, the current Prime Minister, admitted: “It disproportionately affects some of the most vulnerable in our society, including the elderly, people with lung and heart conditions, and the very young.”
Other things you can do individually include walking your children to school, switching off your car engine whenever it's safe to do so, and encouraging family and friends to cycle, walk or use public transport.
But how can your business or school help to clean up dirty air in Greater Manchester and improve the health of everyone? There are a number of ways you can help, but you can start by pledging your support on the National Clean Air Day website. Other suggestions are:
Set up a car-share club for employees/parents
Encourage flexible working to reduce the need for car commuting
Spread the word any way you can - on social media, through word of mouth, and in company/school newsletters.
Want to know how toxic your commute to work or school is? Google is now monitoring toxic gasses in the US to build up a map of potentially harmful hotspots, and the UK could be next. Until then, you can find more information on the Defra UK government website.
A Local Commercial Cleaning Company For Manchester
We provide a range of professional cleaning services for commercial establishments in the Greater Manchester area. Based in Sale, just outside of Manchester city centre, we’ve been supporting Manchester’s businesses and schools with exceptional cleaning for over 25 years. Why not read our previous blog post on greener cleaning, or if you have any questions about our commercial cleaning services, give our friendly customer service team a call on 0161 905 3000.
