Clean up our air to look after your mind this Clean Air Day

This Clean Air Day we’re talking about the way that cleaner air can improve our mental and brain health, as well as wider physical health. There is no safe level of air pollution. That’s why we’re asking you to help us clean up our air for Clean Air Day and make a lasting change to your travel habits.

Here’s what you can do…

🚲Leave the car at home for short journeys and travel by foot, bike, bus, or tram

🚗Turn off your engine when your vehicle is stationary and avoid idling

💻If you can, work from home rather than commuting

🛍Avoid non-essential home deliveries – try click and collect instead

Calculate your air pollution – and discover ways to reduce it.

💬Talk to your friends and family about air pollution and what they can do to reduce their exposure

Look after your mind too. This Clean Air Day slow down, take a walk and explore a hidden corner of the city…

• Try one of our guided or self-guided walks. These routes will lead you through parks or neighbourhoods and identify points of interest along the way.
• Work in the city centre? Try a lunch time stroll by the canal or Arboretum or visit the tourism centre and try our Look Up! Adventure trail around the city centre.
• Elsewhere in the city? Explore one of our green flag parks, or neighbourhood heritage trails.

What are we doing as a council to tackle air pollution?

Nottingham City Council has committed to improving our air quality over recent years, as the health of citizens is a top priority. We monitor air quality across the city every hour of every day and submit a report to the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs each year.

Council and citizen action over many years has seen air quality across Nottingham continue to improve – but there are a few locations where pollution levels remain higher than the air quality objectives. So there is always more work to do – plus, there are new air quality targets that will be challenging to meet. Fortunately, there are things we can all do to reduce emissions of air pollution and our exposure.

Transport is one of the biggest contributors to poor air quality, so we’ve taken steps to combat this. Offering good, cleaner and greener alternatives to cars helps people to make more sustainable travel choices which help reduce harmful emissions.

• An electric tram network – with contactless ticketing making travel more convenient.
• Massive investment in cycling and walking infrastructure – filling in gaps in our cycle network with quality segregated cycle paths.
• NCT’s fleet of Bio-gas buses are powered by gas created by food and farm waste, with new electric buses on the way.
• We have a fleet of zero emission electric taxis – and recently trialled wireless taxi charging pushing the boundaries with new technology.
• Electric charge points in all major car parks including 81 in the new Broad Marsh car park – the highest installation in one location in the UK.
• Solar powered electric charging stations at our Park & Ride sites. Energy from the sun is collected and then used to charge your car!

These steps give people real transport choice, to make greener decisions to get around without harmful emissions.