Pupils at a Glasgow school have launched Clean Air Day in what is regarded as a momentous year for air quality in Scotland.
It comes as proposals for Low Emission Zones are being implemented; proposals which represent as big a milestone as the Clean Air Act of 1956, which tackled the problem of smogs in major cities caused by industrial emissions.
Taking place on June 16, Clean Air Day Scotland is coordinated by the charity Environmental Protection Scotland (EPS), working with the campaign’s overall UK organisers Global Action Plan.
READ MORE: CCTV appeal following serious assault outside a Glasgow nightclub
The charities are asking people to cycle, walk or scoot and to give the car a day off on June 16 amid research that has found that almost one-quarter (23%) of vehicle trips are of distances of less than one mile in Scotland - journeys which can be easily achieved by sustainable travel.
Pupils from St Joseph’s Primary School - located just a few hundred yards outside of the city’s existing Low Emission Zone (LEZ) - met up with SNP Councillor Angus Millar, Glasgow City Council’s new Convener for Climate, Glasgow Green Deal, Transport and City Centre Recovery and an electric First Glasgow double-decker that proclaimed ‘Clean Air Day – 16th June 2022’ outside the school.
They were joined by Susan Allan, the headteacher of St Joseph’s Primary School, Robert Burns, First Glasgow Stakeholder Engagement Officer and bus driver Jason McDonald.
St Joseph’s Primary School Principal Teacher, Laura Redmond, said: “We are continuously exploring creative and engaging ways of delivering Learning for Sustainability, an entitlement for all learners. We are also working to ensure our learners have an understanding and experience of all the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by the time they leave us in Primary 7 to help our school work towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“It is important to us that climate action and a focus on clean air is not a series of stand-alone events but an ongoing focus for our children and their learning. As a result, over the past few sessions, we have linked the themes of clean air and the relevant sustainable goals to other areas such as Literacy and English, Art and Design and more recently social enterprise in which the P4/3 class explored ways to reduce the air pollution around the school as we are situated in a high-traffic area with motorists idling their car engines waiting at the traffic lights.
“By having this continued focus that extends beyond Clean Air Day, we are not only helping the environment but supporting our pupils to become environmentally responsible citizens of the future.”
Councillor Angus Millar, City Convener for Climate, Glasgow Green Deal, Transport and City Centre Recovery at Glasgow City Council in the new SNP-Green administration, said: “Clean Air Day is a fantastic campaign which draws people together and highlights nationally the impacts of air pollution and the steps we can all take to improve air quality.
“The young people of St Joseph's are highly engaged on this health issue and this is clearly reflected in both their learning and enthusiasm to make a change. Toxic air has negative health impacts, particularly so on the young and therefore it's of vital importance to raise awareness and seek out what can often be simple ways to make the air cleaner and healthier for everyone.
"Increasing the reach of Glasgow’s LEZ to include all vehicles driving into our city centre is a necessary step to maximise the health and environmental benefits that can be delivered and complements a broad range of council policies and initiatives encouraging the uptake of active and more sustainable forms of travel for those everyday journeys.”
