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Collectively, vehicles on our roads are one of the major sources of pollutants that form ground-level ozone. Regular maintenance and tune-ups, changing the oil and proper tire inflation can improve gas mileage, reduce traffic congestion due to preventable breakdowns and reduce your car's emissions by more than half.
What Can We Do About It?
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) helps Texans understand the ozone problem and do their part to improve air quality. The agency forecasts days when conditions are likely to produce high levels of ozone. The program encourages people to take voluntary action on those days to both reduce pollution and protect their health.
Since automobiles are a major culprit in ozone formation in our region of Texas, we should try to limit our driving on Air Quality Health Alert Days. Actions like carpooling, riding the bus, riding a bicycle, combining errands, and avoiding rush hour traffic help improve our air quality.
Daily choices can help reduce pollution
- Share a ride to work or school;
- Avoid lunch-time trips–take your lunch to work or school;
- Walk, ride a bicycle, car/vanpool, or ride the bus instead of driving alone;
- Combine errands into one trip;
- Avoid drive-through lanes;
- Postpone refueling your vehicle and using gas-powered lawn equipment until after 6 p.m., and don't top off your gas tank;
- Keep your vehicle properly tuned and your tires properly inflated for improved gas mileage;
- Report smoking vehicles;
- Participate in your local utility's energy conservation programs; and
- Seal containers of household cleaners, workshop chemicals and solvents, and garden chemicals to prevent VOCs from evaporating into the air.
Tips for Business and Industry
- Shift work schedules to help employees avoid morning rush-hour traffic;
- Allow employees to work at home (telecommuting);
- Offer bus passes;
- For employees who RideShare or use public transportation, provide a guaranteed emergency ride home;
- Encourage employees to carpool to lunch and meetings;
- Schedule meetings that don't require driving (meet on site or make conference calls);
- Offer incentives, such as free drinks at your cafeteria to encourage employees to eat at work;
- Postpone fueling fleet vehicles until after 6 p.m;
- Implement a policy to restrict activities that pollute on Air Quality Health Alert days, for example: refrain from using paints and other solvents or ban the use of gasoline-powered landscaping activities; and
- Switch loads to fired heaters or boilers with low nitrogen oxide burners;
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