Breathe Easy

 

Do YOU know the quality of air you breathe? Many people do not. 

Air quality (AQ) and its impacts are rarely discussed. It remains a silent killer. 

Breathe Easy is looking to change that.

 

A little bit about Breathe Easy

  • We are a citizen science initiative run in cooperation with Ecology Ottawa 
  • We are promoting air quality education through a learning-by-doing approach 
  • We are cooperating with local organziations, including the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and Peace and Environmental Resource Centre 
  • We are collaborating with the Canadian Environmental Network to promote and explore the intersectionalities between air quality, our health, and the climate
  • We are working with schools to increase understanding about air pollution, conduct air quality monitoring, and teach students how to effectively communicate about science. If you're an educator and would like to participate, let us know.
  • We are continuing to expand the project. Interested in volunteering? Fill out this form! 

 

Check out what we've done

     

    Take a peak at our publications

    In the News 

     

    Blogs 

    From the Field

    Air Pollution and Health 

    Wood burning and Air Pollution 

    Air Quality and Our City

    Background Project Information 

     

    Watch our multimedia

     

    Check out related content

     

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    Stay updated on the BreatheEasy project on Facebook and Twitter. 

    Have questions? Get it touch! Send us an e-mail: breatheeasy@sierraclub.ca

    Click here to make a charitable donation towards our air quality work.

     

    This project is funded by:

    Related Content: 
    Local Chapter: 
    Ontario Chapter
    Issue: 
    Grassroots Action
    Health & Wellbeing

    In The News

    Protesters' idling trucks are making downtown Ottawa's air quality worse

    Thursday, February 10, 2022

    Fumes from anti-vaccine mandate protesters' trucks and smoke from their barbecues and campfires is damaging air quality in downtown Ottawa.

    Local resident Bonnie Charette said she wears a mask outside downtown — partly as a COVID-19 precaution and partly because of what she calls the "stench" in the air.

    "The smell is disgusting," she said.

    Abby Donald, who lives in an area where trucks line the streets, agrees.

    "I hate breathing it in," she said. "I walk into my apartment and I smell like it."

    Paul Villeneuve, an environmental epidemiologist at Carleton University, said diesel engine emissions contain a number of harmful substances.

    "Those include things like arsenic, formaldehyde, benzene, and many of these have been shown to cause cancer and affect the cardiorespiratory system," he said.

    Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ottawa-air-quality-truck-protests-worsening-1.6…

    Targeting an invisible problem: Combatting air pollution with citizen science

    Tuesday, November 16, 2021

    What’s invisible to the naked eye and more deadly than traffic accidents?

    Surprise — it’s air pollution.

    While exposure to air pollution is the fourth-leading risk factor for death worldwide, it remains a silent public health emergency, as noted by WHO director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

    Source: https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/11/16/opinion/targeting-invisible-problem-…