April 2000

Clean Up Your Commute and Help Clear the Air: May 21-27

Pump up those bicycle tires. Ask a friend to share a ride. Check the bus schedule. Make your plans now to try a cleaner ride to work during Clean Commute Week, May 21 - 27.

Why a Clean Commute Week? A majority of Maryland workers drive to work alone each day. Our commuting practices, although convenient, are detrimental to our health and to the environment.

For parts of each summer, much of Maryland exceeds the Environmental Protection Agency's health-based standard for ground-level ozone. Ground-level ozone is unhealthy to breathe. It can cause eye and throat irritation, coughing, and chest pain. Ozone may also worsen bronchitis, heart disease, emphysema, and asthma.

More than one-third of ozone-forming pollutants - nitrogen oxides (NO_X) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) - come from cars, trucks, and buses. NO_X causes acid rain, which damages trees, crops, and soil. Acid rain also damages one of our great regional resources by depositing nitrogen into the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. So the fewer cars on the roads, the better the air.

Why May? Ground-level ozone gets worse when the days grow longer and the weather gets warm. Increased sunlight and high temperatures speed the conversion of NOx and VOCs to ozone. May is also when the Maryland Department of the Environment begins its ozone forecasting season to alert citizens about bad air days.

Pledge to commute cleanly at least one day during Clean Commute Week! Right away, you'll be entered in a raffle to win fun and functional prizes. And who knows? Once you've tried clean commuting, it might become a habit.

To learn more about commuting alternatives and activities during Clean Commute Week:

Visit the Baltimore Metropolitan Council's Web site at http://www.baltometro.org/cc/cleancommute.html

Look for the Clean Commute Week Partners at the Towson Festival or the Johns Hopkins Spring Fair.

To get the daily air quality forecast during the summer months, call the Maryland Department of the Environment's Air Quality Hotline at 410-631-3247.