Activity 1: Reducing Air Pollution in My Neighborhood, City, or State

1) View the short DEQ video about air pollution to learn about what pollution is and what causes it. After watching the video, define what an air pollutant is. Explain ways that pollutants can be produced or occur.

2) Learn essential terminology in the context of their activities.

US EPA http://iaspub.epa.gov/sor_internet/registry/termreg/searchandretrieve/termsandacronyms/search.do;
EPA Improving Air Quality Glossary http://www.epa.gov/airquality/community/glossary.html#P ; and
Ireland's EPA Glossary http://www.epa.ie/irelandsenvironment/glossary/
Search glossary for words you have heard or read that are unfamiliar to learn new terms.

3) Explore the EPA’s website, Learn About Air to learn about the six common air pollutants.

4) Examine the EPA materials: Air Quality Index , About Air Toxics, Mobile Source Air Toxics, and Transportation and Climate to learn what are toxic pollutants, sources of toxic pollutants, ways to monitor air quality, and possible modifications to reduce air pollution.

5) Select a setting, such as your neighborhood, city or state, and identify at least six sources of air pollution and modifications that already have been made to control air pollution.

6) Label whether the six sources of air pollution in your setting are major, e.g., a large petrochemical plant, or minor/area sources of pollution, e.g., a grain elevator, or sandblaster.

7) Review how landscaping could be altered to minimize pollution yet still be aesthetically pleasing.

Baton Rouge Green Resources http://batonrougegreen.com ;
LSU Ag Center Native Tree Growing Guide http://www.lsuagcenter.com/NR/rdonlyres/C6007A92-A5F2-4B6A-9598-1487CABFB9CD/18167/pub2926NativeTreeGuide.pdf ;
USDA’s study of effect of removing trees USDA’s study on effect of removing trees http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/43676 ;
EPA Atlanta Urban Heat Study pdf.

8) Review U.S. Department of Energy’s Strategies to Conserve Fuel http://www.afdc.energy.gov/conserve/behavior_techniques.html

9) Identify adverse effects that air pollution has on health, quality of life, health of animals and crops.

10) Compare the risk/benefits of the service or product, for example, transportation is essential but the type of transportation, fuel, and timing may be altered to reduce emissions.

11) Select strategies for reducing specific air pollutants while retaining sufficient services for the community.

12) Write a plan or produce a creative work that explains or illustrates the selected strategies to reduce pollution in your selected area, why the pollutants were targeted, why the modifications were selected, and how these choices impact services and quality of life. Examples, of projects may be to design landscaping to reduce air pollution, prepare a flyer for a City-Parish on strategies to reduce their pollution, prepare a presentation to a CEO about changes that could be made to reduce the company’s pollution, create a 30 sec. PSA to generate neighborhood, city or state changes, or create a multimedia presentation contrasting your area and an area with better air quality.