By Dave Lazzarino
Edmonton Sun
We care about clean air.
Those were the words a Grade 1 class from Michael Kostek Elementary School, 5303 190 St., in Edmonton gave Mayor Don Iveson outside city hall before he declared Clean Air Day in the city.
“Not every day is a clean air day and we’ve understood more and more that one of the big risks to health and wellness in our city is deteriorating air quality,” Iveson told the kids who had taken time from their day with City Hall School to sit by a moss-covered bench and bicycle installed in Winston Churchill Square.
Iveson, who did his part by riding his bike to work, gave an overview of some of the things the city is doing to improve the air we breathe, including energy efficiency retrofits in city buildings, backyard fire pit regulations and investing in public transit to try and take cars off the road. But he also gave a nod to the role played by the city’s natural air cleaners as well.
“Everything the city does with biodiversity, particularly in our river valley and natural areas where we plant trees and preserve ecosystems, each one of these bits of vegetation does also contribute to clean air in our city,” he said.
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