air pollution

Testimonials

Erin M, age 17

As a student leader at BPCI, I have a lot of opportunities to see different styles and approaches to leadership among both students and staff. In my travels, I was fortunate enough to meet Arthur Orsini, an exceptional leader that brought together a group of individuals with a single goal, and was able to guide and steer them to that goal with ease and enthusiasm. The YWALK forum could not have happened without the constant support of Arthur, and I feel priveleged to have worked with this leader of such devotion to his projects.

YWALK Youth Leader Toronto 2007

air pollution

We live in an increasingly urban environment that cultivates a growing dependency on car-travel. Not only is this detrimental for the natural environment, it is jeopardizing the health & future of our children. Air pollution that would produce only slight breathing difficulties in an adult can contribute to more serious breathing problems in children:

children typically spend more time outdoors - especially in the summer when ozone and particulate levels are highest
children spend more time engaged in vigorous activity - more outside air is taken into their lungs
greater doses of air pollutants reach a child’s lungs - higher breathing rates relative to their body weight and lung surface area

E.P.A.’s Children’s Environmental Health Yearbook (1998) p. 10

THERE IS DIRECT LINK BETWEEN AUTO-DEPENDENCY & CHILDREN'S HEALTH - short-term downtown traffic reductions during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics caused a significant effect on children’s asthma events.

Comparing the 17 days of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics with 4-week periods before & after, children (age 1-16) residing in the 5 central counties of metropolitan Atlanta experienced a;

42% reduction in asthma acute care events
19% reduction in hospitalizations

Journal of the American Medical Association

For help reducing vehicular traffic around your schools, contact Urbanthinkers: we have dozens of proven tools and strategies to reduce car-trips to school.