Action plan: what you can do
There are lots of ways that you can help to tackle poor air quality in Manchester:
- cut down your driving - walk or cycle, use public transport, work from home or car share just once a week to make a real difference to air quality and your health. You are exposed to more pollution inside your vehicle than outside
- change your driving behaviours - turn off your engine when you are not moving and make journeys at less busy times if you can
- get your car serviced regularly to make sure it's as efficient as possible
- change your vehicle - older and diesel cars cause more air pollution. When buying a vehicle consider the impact it will have on the city’s air
- further information is available at the Clean Air Greater Manchester website.
Near schools:
Air quality is poor around some schools in Manchester. This can cause health problems like asthma, wheezing, coughs and infections like pneumonia.
Children take more breaths than adults so are more affected by poor air making them vulnerable to the effects of poor air quality.
Changes to the way you do the school run can have a big impact:
- if possible use public transport, walk or cycle to drop off and collect your child from school
- if you need to use your car, park a few streets away from the school and walk the rest of the way
- turn the engine off while you're waiting.
Smoke and fire:
Smoke from stoves and fires contains tiny particulate matter (PM2.5) that's damaging to health. Find out more about this pollution and what you can do by visiting our smoke and fire webpage.
Pollution alerts:
Clean Air Greater Manchester provide an air pollution alert service by text message or email, and access to recorded information. The messages are free and are based on a forecast of expected air quality for the same or following day, helping people to plan ahead.
Report smoky or idling vehicles:
If you see a vehicle that's parked with the engine running for significant periods of time, you can report it using the air quality - report a problem webpage.