At Home Overview

Clean Air Counts is a nonprofit campaign that aims reduce “smog” or ozone and improve air quality in the Chicago area by reducing levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NO_X), which combine with sunlight and heat to make ground-level ozone. Clean Air Households offers citizens like you choices so you can continue your everyday life and still help prevent ozone alerts. There are lots of easy ways to help reduce pollution and improve air quality.

3 Simple Steps to Cleaner Air

Here are just a few ways that you can reduce your household’s contribution to the formation of “smog” or ozone:

• Drive less and walk or bike whenever possible
• Purchase no- or low-VOC products
• Mow your lawn and fill your gas tank in the evening or cooler part of a summer day

Join Clean Air Counts Households today for more information on how to help keep the air clean and how to identify air-friendly household products.

Cleaner Air Means a Healthier, Happier Environment

When you use air-friendly products in your home, you not only help improve the region’s smog problem, you improve indoor air quality, which affects your family’s health. Ozone can cause health problems, especially for children and seniors. In warmer weather, ozone can limit our outdoor activities because it makes it harder to breathe. Ozone also damages trees, plants, and animals. Scientists have linked “greenhouse gas“ (carbon dioxide-CO₂) to global warming, which can radically alter plant and animal habitats. Ozone also interferes with a plant’s ability to produce and store food, compromising its growth and reproduction.

Chicago-area citizens have an opportunity to set a clean air example for other cities striving for clean air. Federal and state officials are looking to this Chicago-based pilot project as a model to be used nationwide!

A Pollution Solution

With Clean Air Households, you don’t just learn about the problems associated with ozone, you get advice on how to contribute to the solution! We discuss cleaning products, lighting choices, lawn care products, and appliances that are safer for your family.

As you change your habits, you can track how you have benefited our air quality through your Clean Air Counts personal profile. If all of us do our part to reduce air pollution, we will all benefit, especially our children and our parents.