“Live to Breathe” campaign encourages steps for clean air

SALT LAKE CITY — The “Live to Breathe” campaign by the Utah Clean Air Partnership (UCAIR) is encouraging everyone to take steps in improving Utah’s air quality.

Kim Frost, the executive director of UCAIR, says summer ozone pollution is unhealthy just like our wintertime inversion.

“However, unlike wintertime inversion, where we have to wait days or even weeks for Mother Nature to blow it out,” said Frost. “Ozone is formed each and every day, so the actions that we take every day will have an impact.”

John Kimball, the president of Real Salt Lake club, says they’re encouraging fans to carpool.  They are also looking for ways to partner with UTA. Kimball says clean air is important for the health of the state and the Real Salt Lake team. Which is why they monitor the air quality to determine if it is safe to practice outdoors.

“They’re breathing heavily as they’re practicing and running,” said Kimball. “As that happens, more pollutants are introduced to the body. And as you take deeper breaths, you’re actually more quickly introducing those pollutants into your bloodstream.” 

UCAIR says clean air benefits everyone, not just our professional athletes. Urging Utahns to take steps in the name of air quality. 

“One of the big things that we can do in the summertime is to consider switching to electric lawn mowers or tools,” said Frost. “If you can’t, then just consider upgrading your old, leaky gas can to a newer model.”

UCAIR also recommends waiting until the evening to run your errands and mow your lawn, as opposed to the heat of the day.

Alejandro Lucero contributed to this report.

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