Clean Air Tips for Businesses

The quality of air in Southwestern Ohio is well below the national average. In the summer of 2002, the Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services issued 6 smog alerts which extended over an 18 day period. During days troubled with poor air quality, such as smog alert days, hospitals see an increase in the number of emergency room visits with patients suffering from asthma attacks. Each year, millions of dollars are lost as people miss work due to air related illnesses. As the American Lung Association reminds us "if you can't breathe, nothing else matters!"

With air quality as it is in the Cincinnati area, we all have to do our share for cleaner air. There are many simple things businesses can do that will cut down on air pollution, and possibly even save them money!

Transportation

The Cincinnati area does not meet the current National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone, a pollutant that is a serious health threat to many of us. The biggest pollutant source in our area are vehicles. The pollution from these mobile sources helps create ozone. There are a number of things that your business could do to help alleviate this problem.

• Encourage or provide incentives for employees to take the bus, car-pool, bike, or walk to work.

• Provide a location for staff to eat lunch on the premises, to cut down on people driving to lunch.

• Create a no vehicle idling policy. With today's modern engines, vehicles need no more than 30 seconds to warm up. Excessive idling can damage your engine components, including cylinders, spark plugs, and exhaust systems.

• Refuel fleet vehicles either in the early morning or after 6:00 p.m.

• Don't top-off or spill fuel.

• Encourage staff to order lunch as a group and have it delivered.

Smog Alert Notification

• Your business can receive notification of smog alert days by contacting OKI at (513) 621-6300 or 1-800-621-SMOG, or at sfry@oki.org.

• Once your business receives the alerts, remember to notify the employees.

Meeting Planning

• Conduct conference calls.

• Hold meetings in a location that requires the least amount of driving.

• Plan meetings early in the morning.

• Carpool to meetings.

Raising Employee Awareness

• Have an education session during a staff meeting to inform employees of their potential effect on our air, and the effects this may have on them. You could invite a speaker from the Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services to conduct the session. For more information, contact Sarah Dowers at (513) 946-7748 or by email.

• Provide publications and resources for employees.        Available free from the Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services by calling (513) 946-7777 or by email. Free air quality materials can also be requested from OKI at (513) 621-6300 or by email. Additional information can also be found at the Environmental Protection Agency.

• Provide incentives to encourage employees to ride the bus, carpool, walk, or ride a bike to work.

• During hot summer days, to reduce the use of air conditioners, allow employees to wear casual dress.

Purchasing

• When replacing old equipment, look for Energy Star products that are energy efficient.

• Buy recycled. Recycled products often use less energy in production. For example, recycled aluminum takes only 5% of the energy to produce than aluminum products manufactured from the virgin material, bauxite.

• Wait to order supplies from company's such as Office Depot and Staples until several items are needed. This will reduce the number of trips the delivery person must make to your business, and may reduce the amount of packaging.

Conserving Electricity

A great money-saving way of reducing air pollution is by conserving electricity. For every $100 we pay to Cinergy for our electricity, we produce about 3000 lbs of carbon monoxide, 8lbs of nitrogen oxides, 26lbs of sulfur dioxide, and about 28mg of mercury. There are many simple ways to conserve electricity:

• Keep filters clean

• Turn off lights

• Ask employees to turn off computers and monitors overnight, instead of just allowing them to go into sleep mode.

• Don't over-cool in summer or over-heat in winter.

• Use fans to circulate air.

• Don't waste energy in unused offices and rooms. Make sure that air supply registers are closed, close the drapes, and close the door.

• Purchase equipment labeled Energy Star.

Grounds Maintenance

• Electric powered leaf blowers, weed whackers, etc. usually produce less pollution than gas-powered equipment.

• If gas-powered equipment is used, use a funnel when re-fueling. Each year in the U.S., more gasoline is spilled when filling garden equipment than was spilled in the Exxon Valdez disaster.

• Follow the directions when using fertilizers and other chemical additives. The excess does not help your plants to grow, and is usually washed away.

• Help you heating and cooling bills by planting deciduous trees along the southern side of your building to provide shade in the summer. During the winter, the leafless trees allow the weak summer sun to heat our building.

• Planting coniferous trees along the north and west of a building can shelter the building from the wind, helping to cut heating bills.

Success Stories

Read these success stories to find out what other businesses  are doing for cleaner air.

For more information about making your business more air aware, please contact Sarah Dowers at
sarah.dowers@hamilton-co.org.