Image Source: “Clearsky1” https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clear_Sky_1.jpg

7 September is the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies. In 2021, the theme of this day is “Healthy Air, Healthy Planet”. Why not take 2 minutes today to raise your concerns with your elected representatives in central and local government? 

Here are some ideas and resources for how you could do this:

Contact your elected representatives

The website WriteToThem will give you contact details for your MP, Councillors, and GLA representatives.  

If writing to your MP, encourage them to engage with the Environment Bill – perhaps using this resource from British Lung Foundation: https://www.blf.org.uk/take-action/campaign/clean-air/environment-bill or, alternatively, the set of demands set out by Mums for Lungs here. (Here’s ClientEarth on why the Environment Bill matters.)

If writing to your councillors, you might want to ask them questions relating to the report we published in July this year (“Air pollution and safety around Bromley schools”). You may also want to ask them what progress Bromley Council has made on the actions set out in Appendix A of Bromley Council’s Air Quality Action Plan, which can be downloaded here (Appendix A starts on page 25). Bromley Council’s consultation on its Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) 2020-2025 received 869 responses from the public over 6 weeks in June-August 2020 – according to the Council, this is three times the average response for such consultations. You can read Bromley Living Streets’ response to that consultation here, and you can use the map on page 8 of the AQAP to see whether your local area is part of Bromley’s Air Quality Management Area. You can find out more about Air Quality Management Areas here.

What else could you do today?

You could nominate your local school for free resources, workshops and interventions on idling – https://idlingaction.london/schools/; or you could sign them up for Airly’s #LetSchoolsBreathe campaign.

You could join Breathe London’s Network as an individual, or the Breathe London Node as a community organisation or local government.

You could print, photocopy and distribute these amazing anti-idling flyers produced by Mums for Lungs, or ask Mums for Lungs to send you some of their wood burning flyers by completing this form.

Have a great day!

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