Air quality might be the most important environmental factor that affects your health on a daily basis, and yet most people don’t take the time to check it frequently.

However, in 2020, we’ve seen smoke from wildfires choking the skies, particulate matter and other environmental pollutants from industrialization and road traffic infiltrating the air around us, and a pandemic affecting those who live in areas of poor air quality disproportionately.

This seems like a good time to start checking the air quality on a daily basis.

That’s where we come in…

Introducing The Daily Breather

The Daily Breather is the easiest way to keep track of the air that you and your loved ones are breathing. Each morning you’ll receive beautifully designed air quality updates for all the locations you want to monitor along with interesting facts, trivia, recommendations, and more.

To get started, simply head to temboo.com/the-daily-breather and sign up. You’ll be prompted to choose a location to monitor by entering a city or zip code. Once you’ve done that, breathe easy because you’ll start receiving The Daily Breather each morning.

If you’d like to monitor more than one location, we’ll send you updates in the same email so you can check in on as many places as you’d like. It’s a great way to keep an eye on friends and family who live in other locations.

Oh, and did we mention it’s free?

We built The Daily Breather as a way to help spread awareness of air quality issues and to help build a more environmentally engaged world. The only thing we ask is that you help us out by spreading the word. If you like The Daily Breather, let us know on social media or share it with a friend who you think would be interested. We’d really appreciate it!

To Breathe Or Not To Breathe….

You may have checked your air quality before but had a hard time understanding what the readings mean or how to stay healthy during bad air quality events.

We’ve been there too, which is why we added an air quality explainer feature to the Temboo platform. For each parameter, we provide information on what it means, what it does, and what you can do to stay safe.

The Daily Breather also includes recommendations for your daily activities based on the AQI (Air Quality Index) for your location. For example, if the air quality is poor, The Daily Breather will share what activities to avoid and which groups of people it will affect negatively.

Air Quality By The Numbers

For certain groups of people—elderly folks, children, and those with respiratory problems—air quality can have a profound effect on quality of life and even health. Even those not included in these high risk groups are often exposed to poor air quality which can lead to health issues over time.

You might have seen the statistics:

• Air pollution is responsible for 5 million deaths each year.
• In 2017, air pollution was responsible for nearly 1 in 10 deaths or 9% of deaths globally.
• 95% of the world population are exposed to mean concentrations of particulate matter which exceed the WHO recommended limit of 10 micrograms per cubic meter.
• Children exposed to higher levels of fine particles in the air (known as PM2.5) are more likely to develop asthma and persistent wheezing than children who aren’t.
• Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions over the next 50 years could prevent roughly 4.5 million premature deaths.
• 4 million children around the world develop asthma each year because of road traffic air pollution.
• Air pollution is a risk factor for many of the world’s leading causes of death: stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and respiratory diseases. There’s also growing evidence that long-term exposure to air pollution can have impacts on other aspects of health like cognitive function.
• Air pollution can harm health across your entire lifespan. It causes disease, disability, and death and impairs quality of life. It damages virtually all systems in the human body.

How to Breathe Easier

All these facts and figures are depressing, overwhelming, and can be hard to know what to about. But don’t lose hope!

Besides signing up for daily air quality reports from The Daily Breather, there are lots of simple steps you can take in your daily life to improve air quality in your area and stay safe when the air outside is polluted.

• Don’t idle your car and report vehicles that are idling in areas where there are laws against it.
• Conserve electricity when ozone pollution is high (you can check that at temboo.com too).
• Plant trees to reduce ground-level ozone pollution and particulate matter. Particles settle on tree leaves, removing them from the air. Trees also reduce carbon monoxide and can mitigate sulfur dioxide emissions because tree pores filter toxic chemicals out of the air.
• While indoors, keep gas appliances properly adjusted and vented.
• Avoid idling cars inside of garages.
• Reduce fireplace and wood stove usage.
• If possible, power your home with solar or advocate for its use in local schools and buildings.
• Avoid burning leaves or trash.
• Try not to use gas-powered lawn and garden vehicles.
• Natural gas emits over 60% less NO2 than coal, so choosing natural gas where possible is a good idea.
• Avoid heavy physical activity that results in faster and deeper breathing in the vicinity of areas of ozone production such as chemical plants.
• People with asthma and other lung conditions should avoid exercising outdoors when air quality readings are poor.

Community-Based Action

Are you part of a community-based organization looking to monitor air, water, soil, or other environmental parameters in your area? Get in touch to learn more about how Temboo can help empower your community to take action, collect the environmental sensor data you need, and help build a more sustainable world for everyone.