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Wood Smoke Pollution
November 3, 2020
With cooler months ahead, our Agency is focusing on reducing pollution caused by wood burning for home heat. Smoke from wood burning is a major contributor to increased air pollution in the Puget Sound region and directly impacts neighborhoods and communities since smoke is often trapped close to the ground by cold temperatures. It is also the main reason air quality burn bans are issued.
Community Helping with Wildfire Smoke
September 30, 2020
While much of the west coast was burning and surrounding areas were literally choked with wildfire smoke this summer, communities in the Puget Sound region were preparing to offer aid to their residents. The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency's (the Agency) community engagement teams worked with community partners in our four focus communities (Chinatown-International District in Seattle, the Duwamish Valley in Seattle, Lakewood in Tacoma, and Auburn-Algona-Pacific) to provide filter-fans to residents.
A More Youthful Perspective
August 24, 2020
“Cow farts? No way! Is that really a problem?” quipped one of the youth with the Service Board (tSB) while playing our Jeopardy-like game in a recent workshop hosted by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency's Chinatown - International District engagement team. The youth were surprised to learn how cow farts create methane, and that smoke particle pollution has the biggest impact on their health. Air Quality Scientist Phil Swartzendruber played Alex Trebek for this game and says it was a very rewarding experience to listen to the thought process of each team as they tried to answer questions, and says students seemed to have fun in the process.
The Meaning of Asian Pacific Island Heritage Month
May 12, 2020
What does Asian Pacific Islander (API) Heritage Month mean to me? To be honest, I didn’t know that there was such a thing until I moved to Seattle. Upon learning about it, I remember feeling a mix of surprise, intrigue, pride, and confusion. In trying to understand how I missed this growing up, I found out that where I grew up in Wisconsin, API populations are less than 4%; in the greater Puget Sound region, that figure is almost triple at 10% in King County and 16% in Pierce County.
Centering Environmental Justice on this 50th Earth Day
April 22, 2020
Today marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (the Agency) is committed to environmental justice, so no communities within our region face disproportionate environmental impacts. The very first Earth Day had environmental justice at its core. In 1970, when the first Earth Day commenced, millions of people used their voices to demand a healthy, clean environment.
The Need For Health Equity Has Never Been Greater
April 8, 2020
On an early Sunday morning in February, Tania Park, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency’s Equity and Community Engagement Manager, and I volunteered for the Seattle/King County Health Clinic. It’s an annual four-day clinic hosted by the Seattle Center Foundation at Seattle Center to provide essential medical services to those who need it the most. Anyone is eligible to receive medical, dental, or optical assistance free of charge. For many, the clinic is the only time each year they can afford these services.
STEM in Lakewood
March 11, 2020
Last month the Lochburn Middle School in Lakewood organized a Science Fair for their STEM night and some of us from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (Gail Pethe, Madeline Camp, Sarah Waldo and I) hosted an interactive booth at the event. It has been many years since I have been at a science fair, so it was a very nostalgic experience. However, the middle school students exceeded all my expectations of the projects we would see at the science fair.
Lunar New Year
February 10, 2020
The Chinatown-International District in Seattle, WA is a focus community of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. As focus community, the Agency aims to create awareness, provide access, support community empowerment, invest in action, and ultimately improve the air quality within Chinatown-International District. We do this in a myriad of ways including the most recent Lunar New Year Celebration hosted by the Chinatown-International District Business Improvement Area.
What Do We Look Like n the Eyes of Injustice
February 7, 2020
At the 17th Annual Lakewood Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, Christian Paige asked the crowd “What do you look like in the eyes of your enemy?” Paige is an Emmy-nominated spoken word poet and Lakewood native. He went on to question what he might look like to oppression, poverty, white supremacy, eviction, and homelessness.
The Kids Are Alright
January 20, 2020
Isha Khanna and Christina Bachiller represented the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency at the Environmental Leaders Summit hosted by the YMCA Earth Service Corps. There were four sessions, each lasting 25 minutes where they facilitated discussions around the topic “The Air Up There” with students from around Washington. The groups consisted of approximately 5-8 people, mostly high school students.