We usually think of air pollution as an outdoors issue — something we should worry about while outside. But that’s a common misconception; the vast majority of our exposure to the most harmful outdoor air pollutants actually occurs indoors. This has important implications for how we think about — and act on — both indoor and outdoor air pollution.

What is fine particulate matter and how does it affect our health?

Fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, is a collection of tiny particles that are 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter. These particles are so small that once inhaled, they can penetrate our lungs and even get into our bloodstream.

Chronic PM2.5 exposure is associated with a number of symptoms and health issues. Short-term effects include irritation of the eyes, nose, throat or lungs; sneezing; coughing; shortness of breath; and worsening of asthma.

Long-term exposure can lead to stroke; ischemic heart disease; chronic respiratory diseases and infections; neonatal disorders; vision loss; and tracheal, bronchus and lung cancer. And unfortunately, even low levels of PM2.5 (at concentrations below current national standards) have been linked to greater mortality.

Exposure to PM2.5 indoors

Outdoor air is not limited to just the outdoors. It gets inside through windows, doors and HVAC systems, bringing pollutants along with it. Most of our exposure to ambient (outdoor) PM2.5 actually occurs indoors — and over two thirds (67%) occur in our homes.

This has devastating health consequences: we now know that indoor exposure to outdoor PM2.5 is responsible for about half of all deaths associated with PM2.5 pollution.

Sources of outdoor PM2.5 include vehicle exhaust, burning of fossil fuels and firewood and non-human activities such as wildfires and dust storms. Roadway traffic is a significant source of ambient air pollution. 15% of schools in the U.S. (6.4 million children) are located less than 250 meters (820 feet) away from a major roadway.

Fortunately, traffic-related air pollutants decrease with increasing distance to major roadways, with many pollutants indistinguishable from background levels at a distance of 250 meters or more. However, schools located closer than that may expose students to higher levels of traffic-related air pollution, which has been associated with increased asthma diagnosis and decreased working memory scores.

Some particulate matter can also be generated indoors, from smoking, cooking, cleaning, burning candles and using personal care products. However, indoor-generated PM2.5 accounts for a smaller proportion of our overall exposure to PM2.5 (in developed countries).

How can we reduce our exposure to air pollution while indoors?

While the effects of PM2.5 pollution may seem daunting, there are steps that we all can take to breathe cleaner — and easier.

• Increase outdoor air ventilation rate. Whether through mechanical ventilation systems or opening windows when outdoor conditions are good, ventilation is an effective way to improve indoor air quality.
• Use an air quality monitor to track air pollution levels. Many consumer-grade monitors are available online.
• Get an air purifier. Use of portable air purifiers in homes, offices and schools has been found to reduce PM2.5 by up to 92%. During wildfires, the use of air purifiers can help reduce PM2.5 exposure by 55–92%. Delos offers an array of advanced air purification solutions. The Delos Compact, which uses patented disinfecting filtration system (DFS) technology, is able to remove 99.99% of particles 0.3 microns in size, which is more efficient than the HEPA standard testing efficiency requirement.
• Stay informed about outdoor levels of air pollution in your area, or buy your own outdoor air quality monitor. If the outdoor air quality is poor, keep your windows closed. You can also download Global Earth Challenge and sign up for EARTHDAY.ORG’s Pledge to Share Your Air to share your air quality data with scientists and help advance air quality research.
• Consider switching to a hybrid or an electric car to help reduce the amount of particulate matter your vehicle emits into the air.

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Did you know that most of the food we consume every day depend on bees to pollinate it and help it grow?

To celebrate the importance of bees to global biodiversity, Earth Day Network, the world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement, along with the Wilson Center, and the U.S. Department of State released a mobile app which utilizes citizen science to collect data on bees and other insects around the world.

The app launched Tuesday and will be available in 12 languages.

According to the president of Earth Day Network, Kathleen Rogers, it will fill knowledge gaps and help experts combat insect decline and protect pollinator species.

Users can take a photo of any species of bee they see, upload it and tag the picture by genus and location. This data will be used to train artificial intelligence (AI) that could benefit a range of conservation goals.

Join us to download Earth Challenge 2020 and help us reach our goal of 500 bee photos by the end of the day, and thousands by the weekend!

This article was reposted with permission from Front Page Live. The last section was added by Earth Day Network and not part of the original article.

Photo credit for image at top: Earth Day Network/Dhyamis Kleber

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Houseplants are the unlikely new stars of Instagram. But a houseplant is so much more than a pretty face.

A new guide to the most popular flora on “houseplant Instagram” suggests that a “potted plant is good company, something to look after — an exotic pet that won’t incur the wrath of your landlord.” The guide also points out that plants benefit mental health, which is especially relevant given the current pandemic.

According to some, however, one of houseplants’ best benefits is its ability to purify the air. But just how true is that claim?

In the late 70s, NASA scientist Bill Wolverton found certain plants are more effective at removing “volatile organic compounds” (VOCs) from the air than others. VOCs are chemicals that arise from typical household products, such as wall paint, nail polish and other scented substances. They can cause short-term discomfort, and can lead to cancer.

Some claim, however, that houseplants are only effective air purifiers in a hermetically sealed environment, such as a research lab or a space station. The amount of houseplants needed  to completely “purify” the air in a house or office would be unfeasible, expensive and time consuming and would likely lead to new issues, such as humidity.

“You would have to put 1,000 plants in [a 7.5m²] office to have the same air-cleaning capacity of just changing over the air once per hour, which is the typical air-exchange rate in an office ventilation system,” according to Michael Waring, an engineering professor at Drexel University.

But complete purification doesn’t need to be the end goal. 

“[E]ven three potted plants in an average-sized office will reduce airborne volatile organic compounds to an extremely low level,”  Fraser Torpy, a lecturer in the School of the Environment at University of Technology, Sydney, wrote in The Conversation. 

Torpy refers to a study conducted at the university, which concluded that potted plants are a low-cost, sustainable and self-regulating solution to indoor air pollution — and, as a result, improve our wellbeing and productivity. 

If you’re worried about the level of air pollution in your home, you may want to do more than simply stock up on houseplants and get on with your life. For example, you can also test your air, install an air purifier, create more ventilation and vacuum more often, in addition to nurturing an indoor forest of houseplants. After all, houseplants are still beautiful, great company and good for your health.

Try these natural steps to improve the air quality in your home or workplace:

• Open windows (though be mindful of busy traffic nearby)
• Cycle or walk places instead of driving
• Address damp and mold problems (and avoid these problems by hanging wet laundry outdoors or in a ventilated area)
• Clean regularly with natural cleaning products and ventilate while cleaning
• Quit smoking and ban indoor smoking in your home

The healthiest attitude may be to remember that plants are not tools. Nurture, love and live with the indoor plants that you find to be the best company, rather than ‘installing’ them like a purification system. 

We all breathe the same air. Let’s keep it clean. Maybe that means buying house plants, or maybe it means joining Earth Day Network’s citizen science project, Earth Challenge, to provide data on the air quality in your area. Whatever you do, stay up to date on the environmental movement. 

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Ken Keffer is a naturalist, writer and educator. He is the author of Earth Almanac: Nature’s Calendar for Year-Round Discovery.

As coronavirus upends many of our routines, remember that time in nature can have a calming effect. You don’t have to scale Mount Everest to be in touch with wildscapes. A simple walk around the block will do. Even just gazing out the window can resonate.

From 15-minute escapes for calming stress to long-haul commitments to occupy you the coming weeks, here are 6 easy ways to live in the moment and reconnect with nature.

15-minute fixes

Listen loudly

Rather than asking nature to speak up, try listening loudly. The sounds of a cityscape can dominate, but if you take a few moments to sit quietly, natural noises will become apparent: The chirps and squawks of birds are often the first clue to life beyond the walls.

Identification doesn’t have to be the goal with listening, instead just focus on hearing. Perhaps you’ll hear a steady tapping. Was it the croaks of a frog from a nearby wetland, or a woodpecker drumming on a branch? It doesn’t matter — what’s important is that you heard it. After a few listening, sessions you’ll recognize the familiar and the new sounds that stand out.

Ponder pond life

A neighborhood park is often home to a pond, a magnet for nature. Whether it’s a quick stroll around the water edge, or quiet time reflecting from the park bench, the pond is bursting with life. Turtles, ignoring physical distancing recommendations, pile up side-by-side on sunny basking logs.

Amphibians revel in the season, too. Spring peepers chorus frogs are two of the first species to proclaim their presence each year. Dragonflies cruise over the shallows, and most cattail marshes have red-winged blackbirds camped out in them from now until fall. If there are fish in the pond, be on the lookout for osprey diving into the water. Now is when ducks push north as ice melts off recently frozen waters.

Daily doses

Observe migration madness

While most of the annual passages of spring have been put on pause this year for people, avian migration madness marches on. As you’re likely feeling a bit of restlessness after days of hunkering down, birds also feel a sense of urgency as their migration nears. This zugunruhe, German for “movement or migration restlessness,” has been document in birds for centuries.

Setting up a backyard feeding station with black oil sunflower seed is an easy way to observe the wonders of migration. Take a few moments each day to observe your feeders. Species like chickadees and finches will become your regular companions. An anticipation of new visitor arrivals builds all season. Perhaps a hefty grosbeak will make a cameo. Or maybe orioles will share the neighborhood later this summer.

Watch the sunset

One of the things people seek out on vacations is an amazing sunset view. It’s almost like we forget that the sun sets every day from every location. Even if you don’t have a direct view from your house, you can likely walk to a place to see the last rays of light shinning on each day. Linger until you can make a wish on the first star you see each night. Make it a point (or “isolution”) to catch more sunsets this spring. Individually, these memories will form a collective appreciation for the subtle changes as the lengthening days march toward summer.

The long haul

Plant a garden

Make this the year you plant a garden. Even if your backyard isn’t a network of raised beds and compost heaps, you can still grow impressive amounts of food.

Windowsill herb gardens offer up a sprinkle of freshness to most any meal. A fresh plucked leaf of basil will brighten up your salad, while a sprig of mint will transform your kitchen into a speakeasy cocktail bar. A cardboard box of potato starts is a low-maintenance way to earn your green thumb. Container gardening can grow plenty of pizzas worth of tomatoes and bell peppers on any apartment balcony.

Not sold on growing your own? Note what’s already sprouting outside. Spring is the season when plants reawaken after winter dormancy. Trees are starting to bud out, and green up is occurring from coast to coast. The iNaturalist app can help you identify unfamiliar species.

Build a nest box

One solution to combat the feelings of confinement is to expand your neighborhood. Invite feathered friends into your neighborhood with a nest box or platform. Project NestWatch, administered by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, has construction plans online. Wrens, chickadees, and bluebirds will be attracted to boxes that replicate natural tree cavities, and platforms are helpful to birds, like robins and phoebes, that build cup nests.

As birds build nests, lay eggs, and eventually raise young, you’ll be joyful and proud that you played a little role in providing them a place to call home. In difficult times, it’s helpful to have hope for the future. And nothing is more hopeful than a nest of baby birds.

Want another way to connect with nature? Download the citizen science app Earth Challenge 2020, and start collecting valuable data on air quality and plastic pollution today. Meanwhile, check out our 11 actions to take for the planet during a pandemic.

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Plastic, plastic, plastic. The prolific use of plastic in our world is staggering — humans have created some 8.3 billion metric tons of the stuff, the equivalent 800,000 Eiffel Towers. 

Plastic pollution is a problem because of its long-lasting effects — this petroleum-based, man-made material never fully degrades. According to estimates by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one plastic bottle takes at least 450 years to break down. Recent research suggests that worldwide, only 9 percent of plastics ever made have been recycled. 

With numbers like this, it can be discouraging to try to tackle the problem. We find plastics littered from rivers to streets, ingested by land animals and aquatic species alike. But small lifestyle changes, education and outreach efforts can add up to make a big difference. Here are five individual actions you can take today to cut plastic pollution.

1. Reduce, reuse, recycle, refuse

Tossing your plastic package into the recycling bin used to feel like a win, but after China and other Asian countries stopped taking our plastic waste in 2018, these packages have been piling up overseas. The bottom line: Recycling is not as straightforward as many of us once thought.

Recycling is tough, but to ensure your recyclable waste gets where it needs to go, check out our 7 common recycling mistakes and tips. Of course, refusing plastics in the first place or opting for alternative products is a surefire way to reduce your impacts.

2. Become a citizen scientist for Earth Day with Earth Challenge 2020 

If you’re itching to become even more active in the fight against plastic pollution, look no further than Earth Challenge 2020, the largest ever citizen science initiative. Earth Challenge 2020 is a mobile app that empowers everyone to be a citizen scientist. Citizen scientists who use the app can enter data and answer a handful of research questions, one of which explores the extent of plastic pollution in their area. 

3. Participate in The Great Global Cleanup

Another exciting opportunity to spearhead the end of plastic pollution is Earth Day Network’s campaign The Great Global Cleanup. This event aims to be “The Largest Environmental Volunteer Event in History” as a celebration of citizen science and the strength of community. There are many existing cleanup events events already in the works. If there is no cleanup already organized in your area, you can register a cleanup of your own. 

4. Support policy change 

While there are many lifestyle shifts and actions that each of us can take as individuals, ending plastic pollution requires a two-pronged approach. This includes innovations in technology and policy changes. The list of cities, states, businesses and entire countries that are placing bans on plastics continues to grow, providing a reason for hope.

California has become a leader in the United States, becoming the first state to ban single-use plastic bags. Canada also recently pledged to ban single use plastics completely by 2021. You can support these global efforts by signing petitions, communicating with your local representatives and supporting coalitions dedicated to stopping plastic pollution.  

5. Take the pledge to End Plastic Pollution

There’s no need to sit idly by while plastic piles up. Knowledge is power, so get educated and spread the word. Take advantage of Earth Day Network’s many resources, such as the Pledge to End Plastic Pollution and plastic calculator. If you enjoy a good read, check out the Plastic Pollution Primer and toolkit. 

More than 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic are not just going to disappear — steer progress the way you want to see it. Between making your weekly grocery lists, volunteering in your community and spreading the word, bringing down plastic pollution is something we can all tackle together. 

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Polluted air has drastic health effects, including throat infection, watery eyes, black mucus and constant headaches. Research published this year in Journal of American Medical Association suggests that simply breathing certain city air is like smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. Unsurprisingly, air pollution can shave more than 10 years off lifespans, as is happening in New Delhi today.

Nishu Kaul, director of South and Southeast Asia for Earth Day Network, resides in Delhi, which hit Air Quality Index (AQI) levels of 1,000 this weekend. To give context, anything above 300 is considered hazardous, and anything below 50 is healthy. On Monday afternoon, the AQI was 15 in Tokyo, 46 in New York City, 50 in Paris and 129 in Beijing.

“Air pollution is one of the biggest climate crises facing our nations today,” said Kaul. “The basic rights of citizens to clean air are under threat.”

Northern India’s recent crisis is a combination of many factors: exhaust fumes, construction dust, industrial emissions, forest degradation, crop burning. As for the last factor, in October and November, northern Indian farmers burn their crops, which, when coupled with slow winds from the northwest, can spell disaster, blowing the polluted air into the plains of northern India.

On top of these health hazards, the economic and societal costs associated with air pollution are also disruptive. Already, school has been canceled in many parts of northern India until Tuesday. Hundreds of flights have been diverted and delayed in India because of low visibility from smog. Construction activities have also been halted and car rationing introduced.

And the problem isn’t limited to Delhi and other northern cities. India Air Quality Information demonstrates the vulnerability of the entire northern and central region of India to particulate matter, a common air pollutant (track India’s air quality at this real-time map by the World Air Quality Index Project).

Unfortunately, this news isn’t new for India. Like the slow creep of climate change, the country has been undergoing worsening levels of air pollution for decades, with little being done to address it. From 1998–2016, the Indo-Gangetic Plain — home to 40% of India’s population — experienced a 72% increase in pollution, according to the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute.

“In our constant aim for economic prosperity and infrastructure development, we have become uprooted from our traditional values and customs,” said Kaul, referring to the lack of indigenous perspectives incorporated into India’s development. “A country which was once respected for its vast knowledge of nature and environment is suffering the most today.”

Fifteen of the world’s 20 most polluted cities are in India, according to a 2018 World Air Quality Report. In 2017, polluted air was responsible for 1.24 million deaths, said a study published in The Lancet Planetary Health last year.

Kaul worries India has become so used to poor air that this is the new normal. And if that’s the case, future generations are going to “suffer in the failed eco-systems resulting from human activities and industry emissions,” said Kaul.

If we start curbing greenhouse gas emissions, however, we can avoid the worst effects of a climate catastrophe and limit the smoggy air that comes with it. Learn more about how you can track air quality in your area by signing up to receive updates about Earth Challenge 2020, the world’s largest-ever citizen science initiative.

On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day — April 22, 2020 — millions will take to the street in an act of protest, pressuring politicians and demanding a new way forward. Join the EARTHRISE movement.

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Monarch migration season is in full swing. But this legendary journey isn’t quite as we remember it from childhood. These orange and black pollinators, once a familiar sight in backyards across North America, are racing toward extinction primarily due to human activities. 

Facing the daunting task of restoring these populations, many have turned to citizen science to monitor, track and protect monarchs. This type of community-based science not only contributes to existing scientific data it also educates and engages the public on critical environmental issues. 

So, how can you protect monarchs? First, let’s see what’s harming their populations. 

Monarchs and climate change

Monarchs not only have one of the most impressive migration patterns in ecology — traveling over 2,000 miles from Mexico to Canada — but they’re also an essential part of the world’s ecosystem. These butterflies move from plant to plant feeding on nectar, which makes them important pollinators that many flowering crops depend on. 

Between 1993 and 2016, monarch populations declined 68%. This shocking drop is primarily due to habitat loss, climate change and pesticide use. 

Monarchs breed in milkweed plants, but agricultural growth in the American Midwest, combined with mass amounts of land used to grow corn and soy, have destroyed these plants. Another problem: urban sprawl and industrial development have hurt this habitat particularly hard, as milkweed is often seen as a weed to be eradicated.

Climate change has also hurt monarch populations. Migration patterns, which are dependant on the weather, have been increasingly disrupted by rising temperatures. Without these essential climate signals, monarchs can’t find their way from one habitat to another. 

The last major threat to monarch populations is widespread pesticide use. Studies show that milkweed near agricultural areas contains pesticides and herbicides that stunt caterpillar growth. Pollinator species like monarchs are not only threatened by pesticides in milkweed but their travel between plants to collect nectar also makes them particularly sensitive to pesticide use. 

Protecting monarchs

We can do a lot to stop these trends. Planting milkweed native to your region, buying organic produce, engaging in sustainable farming and supporting roadside and community milkweed gardens all help monarchs and their habitats. To truly understand and protect these populations effectively, however, we need data, and lots of it.

This is where citizen science comes in. The average person may think that scientific data collection is far beyond their skillset or comprehension, but that’s not true! Every single person can be a citizen scientist. 

Citizen science is all about mobilizing individuals to collect, share and act on scientific data about issues they care about. Citizen scientists have the power to share information in places, scales and resolutions previously unachievable, resulting in a larger, more diverse dataset than any one scientist could collect alone. 

The information produced by citizen science projects can support and augment formal reporting, helping people hold governments and companies accountable to their commitments, while also educating participants on the world around them. 

This makes citizen science the perfect tool for bringing back healthy monarch populations.

Earth Challenge 2020

The monarch butterfly crisis lacks public understanding and accessible data for researchers. It was this dilemma that sparked Earth Challenge 2020. Earth Challenge 2020 is a citizen science campaign that uses modern technology like smartphones and machine learning to create a globally accessible tool with which anyone can collect, review and learn about monarch data. 

Earth Challenge 2020 will launch on April 1, 2020, in honor of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. the campaign aims to aggregate 1 billion data points within the month of April. Besides addressing declining monarch and insect populations, the initiative will also tackle issues like air pollution and plastic pollution. This data will be open and freely available through an Earth Challenge 2020 cloud platform. 

When you launch the Earth Challenge app you will be able to snap photos of the insects that you see in everyday life and submit them to be verified. Once the data has been verified, you can view your datapoint alongside others in your community and around the world. In addition to inputting data, the app also provides the opportunity to learn more about what your data means and how you can use it to create safer, healthier communities. 

This system allows scientists to get a clear view of the distribution of monarch butterflies and their migration patterns. With this knowledge, one can identify regions that need habitat restoration and understand the extent of the declining monarch crisis that we face today.

There is a current and desperate need to save disappearing pollinators. Our ecosystems and agricultural production are dependent on these amazing creatures. Monarch butterflies are a testament to how incredible our planet is — their loss would be a moral, ecological and economic disaster. Earth Challenge 2020 will give everyone the tools to make small digital acts, that will grow into large environmental change.       

To learn more follow us on twitter @Earth_Challenge or visit Earth Challenge 2020.

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More than 50 years after Rachel Carson’s haunting analysis of pesticides in “Silent Spring,” we’re still dealing with chemicals and their backlash on ecosystems. The latest perpetrator: sulfoxaflor, a bug- and weed-killer reapproved last week by the Environmental Protection Agency. The latest victim: bees.

We’re losing billions of bees each year to many complicated causes, including viruses, climate change, decreasing crop diversity and habitat loss. Amid this population plummet, however, one threat remains under our control: pesticides.

While pesticides are designed to kill pests and insects that harm crops, they also have unintended consequences. Pesticides can wipe out entire species, even ones not targeted. This includes bees, insects essential to many crop yields.

Even the EPA knows sulfoxaflor is bad for bees — their environmental impact statement admits the pesticide is “highly toxic to bees and other pollinating insects.” Still, the agency reapproved the agricultural industry’s use of sulfoxaflor, citing the “lower environmental impact” compared to other pesticides.

Though we think of bees as our favorite buzzing pollinators, they do much more than make honey and frequent flowers; losing bees can cause big problems for our ecosystem and economy.

Here’s why we should care:

As populations boom, we need more food

Bees pollinate about three-quarters of fruits, vegetables and nuts in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The U.S. is the largest food exporter in the world. Combine this with a growing global population — one expected to reach 10 billion by 2050 — and bees’ survival is essential not only for the U.S. but also for fighting world hunger. Globally, it’s estimated that bees and other pollinators affect one-third of the world’s food supply.

Don’t forget about other animals

Bees don’t only pollinate foods we eat — they also pollinate food eaten by birds and other mammals. Bees pollinate wild berries and nuts, as well as alfalfa, food eaten by domesticated livestock. Take bees out of the equation, and the effects can be felt all the way up the food chain.

The food chain’s vulnerability is more apparent when looking at certain crops: Cherries and blueberries are 90 percent dependent on honeybee pollination, and almonds are completely dependent on honeybee pollination, according to the American Beekeeping Federation.

And then there’s the economy

Bees alone contribute to $15 billion annually for the U.S. agriculture, and pollinators contribute $24 billion to the U.S. economy. Besides pollinating heavy-hitting crops like fruits, vegetables and nuts, bees pollinate crops like cotton and other foods we don’t instantly think of when we think of bees (like coffee, tea and chocolate). Entire industries produce various beeswax- and honey-based goods.

Together, bees affect multibillion-dollar industries that, if they collapse, could put tens of thousands out of work and send shockwaves through the economy.

Bees are part of nature’s delicate balance

Bees have evolved into mega-pollinators over millions of years, and plants have adapted to incorporate bees into their life cycle. If bees disappeared quickly, plants would not have time to adjust. Instead of adapting, many plant species would simply die off. And that’s not just food crops; flowers and trees need pollinators.

Bees may be the posterchildren of a larger environmental crisis, but their rapid disappearance reflects the threats many pollinators face. Though widespread loss of bees remains a mystery to scientists, one threat we can control is our use of pesticides. Urge Congress to pass the Saving America’s Pollinators Act, and sign Earth Day Network’s Pesticide Pledge to reduce the amount of pesticides that are killing pollinators.

Learn more about how you can protect bees and other species by joining Earth Day Network’s Protect Our Species campaign.

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