Breathe Easy Blog

Canadian Environmental Protection is Getting Stronger, but is it Strong Enough?

Morgan Martel — August 30, 2022
The Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) is a cornerstone of Canada’s environmental legislation. The original CEPA has several shortcomings that fail to meaningfully protect Canada’s environment. A current bill aims to strengthen this legislation -- but does it do enough to protect our environment and our health?

Walking our way to better air quality

Claire MacDougall — August 8, 2022
 
Poor air quality is a major tribulation facing urban life today, both for its impact on climate change and public health.
Blue skies are rare in many of the world's largest cities.

Take a Deep Breath…

Sarah Morgan-White — April 1, 2022
Recently, a resident flagged that he had noticed an increase in dust in the air, which through a series of events led me to start volunteering with the Sierra Club Canada’s Breathe Easy project. Since then, I’ve had an opportunity to perform air quality measurements in Blackburn. The air quality monitor measures a number of air pollutants including particular matter (PM2.5), which is the focus of the Breathe Easy project.
The following are some of the take-aways I have so far from my experience volunteering with Breathe Easy and in measuring PM2.5 in my community.

Who, me? How we can mitigate air pollution and improve our health

Daniela Ravindra — February 24, 2022

Air pollution does not have to be as obvious or as extreme as that in Delhi to cause harm. Believe it or not, even Canada – a place we think of as very clean and healthy – experiences air pollution which is caused both by human activity, such as simple daily tasks or, more complex economic activity such as building, manufacturing, farming, and mining.

The choices we make, both in our everyday lives, as well as in supporting specific public policies, have important effects on how our neighbourhoods, our provinces, and our country addresses air pollution. 

The holiday tradition we’d be better off without

Alma Hyslop — December 8, 2021
Whether or not we actually celebrate Christmas, we’re often surrounded by images of a traditionally decorated living room during the holiday season. These scenes often include a lavishly decorated tree, neatly wrapped presents, stockings hung from a mantel, festoons of miscellaneous greenery, and of course… the log fire in the fireplace. There are many “inconvenient truths” about wood burning. Let’s start with one of them: no matter how dry and well-seasoned the fuel, wood smoke is a dangerous air pollutant. Sadly, wood burning is often unrecognized as a problem. It’s often socially acceptable to light a fireplace, even if it means blanketing a neighbourhood with harmful smoke.

Field Notes from a Citizen Scientist

Posted on November 22, 2021
I live a few hundred metres from the Queensway in Ottawa, and have long wondered about the air quality in the neighbourhood. Is my proximity to the highway and a major feeder road bad for my health? Ottawa is quite green, but is the air quality okay? After reading about the Breathe Easy campaign in an Ottawa Citizen article, I put my hand up to get involved. After a quick tutorial by the friendly local coordinator, Jake Cole, I set out to take some readings, and made a few observations along the way:

Breaking News: WHO Releases New Air Quality Guidelines

Jake Cole — September 27, 2021

Our BreatheEasy project continues to measure air quality at different sites across the Ottawa region.

How is the air in Ottawa? Generally speaking, the air quality in our city is fairly good. However, we have also identified a number of air pollution "hot spots".

The Sneaky Culprits Behind Air Pollution

Jake Cole — October 23, 2020

So there I was on that sunny summer afternoon, just getting started with our Sierra Club Canada project, “Breathe Easy,” to measure air pollution all across Ottawa. I was working from home, all the windows open, when suddenly there's a cacophony of clattering noise starting up somewhere in the neighbourhood and a real stinky smell wafting into the yard and in through my windows. I investigate to find that a local hedge trimming company has unleashed a team of three ardent cutters on my adjacent neighbour's back yard. I close up all my windows and whip over to see what's going on.