In California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, we have a government agency called the Bay Area Air Quality Management District that helps us "spare the air" when the air quality is looking to be unfavorable. 

When the agency determines that weather conditions will result in poor air quality, they issue a "Spare the Air" notice. When there is an announcement, people are not allowed to burn wood in a fire place, for example. The does not prohibit use of automobiles, but it does raise awareness that citizens should try to "spare the air."

I interviewed Kristina Chu, the Senior Public Information Officer for the agency, and here is our Q&A:

1. On a Spare the Air Day, do you see measurable improvement in air quality? 

"Yes. Because Bay Area residents are aware of the impacts of unhealthy air quality, a majority of people will refrain from doing things to contribute to making the air unhealthy. Based on our forecasting and modeling work, we do notice an improvement in air quality during a Spare the Air Day."

 2. Besides a government "spare the air" day, do you think it would be possible to start a citizen spare the air day movement, like "meatless Mondays" is becoming popular. 

"Yes. It is possible for a citizen to start a 'spare the air movement'. Gavin, a local Boy Scout, is helping to spread the 'idle free? message: http://lordolson.wix.com/phsparetheair."

 3. In Los Angeles and China, the air quality can be very bad. Do you think citizens can effect change once things have gotten so bad? 

 "Yes. It is never too late to work to change and combat climate change." 

4. There is a concept called "tragedy of the commons," in which no one takes care of the common ground. This is so with the air, because keeping the air clean is harder than picking up trash. Any thoughts on this? 

"I agree that keeping the air clean is hard." 

 5. Do you see a particular role for youth in sparing the air, since we don't control the government or cars? 

"The Air District has a Spare the Air Youth program with a variety of things youth can do to help: http://www.sparetheairyouth.org/  "

Thanks to Kristina for this interview. We'll write more in the future about some of the youth initiatives that are going on in the Bay Area.

Finally, I would like to propose the idea of Carefree & CarFree Weekends. In general, most people have some flexibility on the weekends compared to the weekdays, when they have to get to work or school. So a person could choose the entire weekend or either Saturday or Sunday to use alternative transportation to spare the air. 

 What do you think of this idea?