People walking through the busy intersection at 5th Avenue and 23rd Street in New York City on a summer day with sunset flare behind the background buildings
In the search for solutions to a global air pollution crisis, leaders around the world are looking everywhere for fixes that will provide populations with healthier results.
Part of that equation involves green public procurement. That’s something recommended by the European Environmental Bureau. It’s a practical step. It has to do with changing the way that public departments buy.
“Public procurement is a relatively new but rapidly growing tool for decarbonization, emerging as a global strategy in recent years,” say spokespersons in a document created this month focusing on recommendations for strengthening public procurement and making it climate-neutral. “These laws have the potential to drive environmentally and socially responsible procurement, create lead markets for decarbonised products, spur innovation, support rural development, empower small-scale farmers and subject matter experts, and generate meaningful green jobs.”
First of all, what is decarbonization? The writer is referring to a process of reducing or eliminating carbon emissions in order to fight climate change. Here, there are two goals. One is reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The other is actively removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
That idea of sourcing better implementation in public administration is just one aspect of this.
The science seems to support green public procurement, too.
Scientific Analysis
In Elsevier, a scientific journal, you can read about a study from various authors looking at how this works.
Green public procurement (GPP) is regarded as a vital tool for achieving energy conservation and emission reduction,” study authors write. “It remains unclear whether GPP can genuinely improve corporate environmental performance.”
They also mention strategic moves to improve things:
“The study points out that increasing the transparency of information disclosure, enhancing procurement efficiency, and maintaining the stability of procurement relationships all contribute to strengthening the environmental performance incentive effect of GPP. This article helps to deepen the understanding of the ‘proactive government’ promoting the development of green economy and also provides theoretical reference for the breakthrough of corporate green transformation under the target of ‘dual carbon.’”
Now, some of the language in this study is pretty high-flown. For example, take this:
“Due to the negative externalities of environmental pollution and the positive externalities of corporate environmental responsibility, the costs and uncertainties associated with improving environmental performance conflict with the goal of profit maximization for firms.”
That’s quite a fancy way of saying that companies don’t have inherent incentives to go greener.
In any case, this is one direction that public figures are looking into from a community perspective.
But what about at the household and individual level? How do you clean your air? It might be easier than you think.
The Real Effects of Air Pollution
When you’re talking about real people and real families, you’re talking about different kinds of health impacts from having various contaminants floating around in your air. Some people cough. Or you might sneeze. Some have more extreme allergies. Others may just view this as a nuisance.
Let’s take indoor air pollution that happens in our homes and workplaces where we live and spend time.
Over time, you might notice that your throat is often scratchier than it used to be, or you’re coughing and sneezing more. You might see redness, itchiness, or irritation around your eyes, or a skin rash. These are annoying, troublesome symptoms – but they can also point to something deeper.
In particular, many of these small microbes affect our respiratory systems, where you can have more difficulty in breathing and decreased quality of life in general.
If you recognize some of these symptoms, you might want to think about whether they’re related to allergies. You might consider sensitivity to a particular natural substance. Think about reactions to harmful chemicals and residue from combustion or industrial processes.
Let’s take the example of wildfire combustion, which is a growing problem in some parts of the country.
As we’ve mentioned so many times, wildfires release something called PM 2.5, particles with diameters around 2.5 microns.
These can get embedded in the lungs and cause respiratory issues.
But there are also different kinds of contaminants called volatile organic compounds. They’re a problem. These can be in all kinds of consumer products, from furniture down to candles or other scented products.
Scientists sometimes talk about ‘nanoparticles’ and how they can infiltrate your airway.
Evaluate all of this when you’re looking at what impacting your health in your home or in your workplace
Evaluate Your Air
The place to start is with an air monitor tool that you can use to see what’s in the air around you on a regular basis. Why?
Remember that this air is largely enclosed or trapped in your building or space. That’s especially true with newer buildings that have more modern windows, and are better sealed for energy efficiency. That’s a double-sided coin, because as you weatherize your house, you’re also trapping that air, to a larger extent, and eliminating some of the air movement that could theoretically cut down on contaminants.
But there is a solution: a modern air purifier machine that will cycle the air through it, and take a lot of contaminants out of your indoor air.
And then there’s this: when you choose the right machines with the right ACH (air changes per hour) and special features, you can get clean, breathable air in your building, and benefit from lower risks of respiratory conditions and other health problems.
A standard HEPA filter removes 99.97% of small particles down to .3 microns, and a Super HEPA can do even better. Activated carbon can help trap troublesome VOCs. Some machines use PECO or a different technology to introduce healthy bacteria into the air..
Let US Air Purifiers LLC help with all of your questions on design, planning, performance, and everything else. We have an excellent track record of assisting our customers and giving them the real details on how to optimize this kind of purchase! Get confidence about the air you breathe day to day – you deserve it.