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As serious as the air quality problem is in America, improving the air we breathe isn’t hard at all. It only takes small adjustments to our driving habits to make a huge difference. And once you start practicing these SIMPLE steps, clearing the air will become as second nature as fastening your seatbelt.

SLOW down: The faster you drive, the more fuel you burn, and that means you’re polluting more without going any further. And you’re also paying for it: for every 5 mph you drive over 60 mph, you might as well be paying 20 extra cents per gallon.

IDLE less: If you’re in your vehicle sitting still (as long as you’re not in traffic), turn off your engine. Idling is a major contributor to harmful air pollution. It’s actually more fuel-efficient to restart your vehicle than to idle for 10 seconds or more. Avoid Drive-through windows: walk inside to place your order, pick up your prescription, or make a deposit. Turn your engine off in the school pick-up lane. Kids are exposed to a dangerous toxic cloud of vehicle emissions every time they enter or exit their schools. Ready, Set, and then GO. Fasten seatbelt and get situated before you start your car to reduce the time you spend idling. It’s a common myth that vehicles need to “warm up” before driving—modern engines actually warm up as they’re driven, not as they sit idle.

MAINTAIN your vehicle: A well-maintained vehicle gets better gas mileage and creates less pollution. A routine vehicle tune-up can increase your gas mileage by an average of 4.1 percent, and a new air filter can improve it by up to 10 percent. When you’re burning less fuel, you’re cutting down on emissions, and you save money, too.

PLAN your trips: Plan ahead to combine trips to the same area of town, or make adjustments to accomplish your to-do list closer to home or in fewer stops.

LEAVE your car at home: Carpooling, biking, walking, and public transportation are all excellent ways to reduce vehicle emissions. Switching up your routine even a few days a week can save 1500 pounds of air pollution. If you do drive to work, pack your lunch or walk to a nearby local eatery at the noon hour. Even changing those small trips will add up to cleaner air. About 25% of all of the vehicle trips in the U.S. are under a mile. How many of your trips could be walkable? Sign up for Clean Air Alerts and make sure to give your vehicle a day off on Code Orange air quality days.

EDUCATE friends and family: Become a Clear the Air advocate and help other people change their driving habits to reduce air pollution in America. Convince just one person to take the SIMPLE steps and you’ve doubled your impact—educate your whole family and we’ll all breathe easier.

PROTECT the Environment: There is a registered product with the Environmental Protection Agency that can reduce harmful exhaust emissions by up to 75%. Emissions testing with the use of MPG-CAPS™ have shown reductions of smog producing emissions such as Hydrocarbons, Carbon Monoxide and Nitrogen Oxides. These emissions are harmful to the Earth’s atmosphere and contribute to global warming. Here are some Frequently Asked Questions about MPG-CAPS™.

Air Quality is a serious issue for Americans, affecting our health, our landscape, and our economy. In fact, more than half of America residents live in areas where air pollution is a problem, whether they know it or not.

Know your Air Quality Facts:

• Cars, trucks, and other transportation cause a huge part of the air pollution problem in America. Vehicle emissions make up 31% of the carbon dioxide, 81% of the carbon monoxide, and 49% of the nitrogen oxide in the air we breathe.

• In a single day, the average person inhales about 3,000 gallons of air.

• Diesel exhaust contains over 40 substances that are considered dangerous by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

• When you’re driving in traffic, the pollution isn’t just outside. It comes right back into your car, making the driver’s seat a pretty unhealthy environment.

• The pollution created by vehicle emissions harms our natural environment and causes long-term damage to vegetation, soil, farms and forests. Air pollution is responsible for a loss of about $500 million per year in crops across the United States.

• Personal vehicles emit about one pound of pollutants for every mile driven. On average, that’s about 6 tons of pollution produced per vehicle per year!

Pollution and Your Health:

• Breathing polluted air over time can reduce your life expectancy by 2 to 3 years.
• The health risks of air pollution include:

o aggravated allergies
o heart disease
o eye and respiratory irritation
o decreases in lung capacity
o permanent scarring of the lungs
o asthma
o bronchitis
o premature death

• Scientists estimate that the number of pollution-influenced deaths in the US can be anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 per year.

Kids and Air Quality:

• Kids breathe one and a half times more air than adults do per pound of body weight. They’re more active, their bodies are growing and developing, and they naturally breathe deeper and faster.
• Exposure to poisons in the air is even more dangerous for children, and can cause permanent lung tissue scarring and damage.
• Kids make up almost half of the cases of asthma in the U.S, a problem caused and exacerbated by poor air quality like America’s.
• One of the most dangerous sources of air pollution for kids is the before- and after-school pick-up line. Diesel fumes from buses and emissions from idling parent vehicles near the school create heavy clouds of pollution, right at kid-level.

Types of Air Pollution:

• Nitrogen Oxide: or NOx, describes harmful compounds made up of nitrogen and oxygen. NOx is formed when fuel burns at high temperatures, and mobile sources emit more than half of all NOx in the United States. NOx is one of the components of ground-level ozone, smog, and particulate matter, and it’s a serious health risk.

• Volatile Organic Compounds: or VOCs, are organic chemical compounds that mix with other airborne pollutants like NOx to create ground-level ozone. VOCs are released into the air when fuel is burned and also when it evaporates—like when you’re refueling your vehicle, especially during the heat of the day.

• Ozone: Ground-level ozone is not to be confused with atmospheric ozone:

o The atmospheric ozone layer occurs naturally. It’s a part of the upper atmosphere and it protects us from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation.
o Ground-level ozone, however, is not so good. It’s a poisonous pollutant and the main ingredient in smog. Ground-level ozone is not naturally occurring—it’s created when NOx and VOCs combine and are heated by the sun. Ground-level ozone can reduce lung functioning in healthy adults by as much as 20 percent.

• Carbon Monoxide: CO is completely and dangerously undercover: colorless, odorless, and poisonous. Over half of the carbon monoxide emissions in the US are produced by vehicle exhaust, and that number climbs much closer to 100 percent in urban areas. CO is dangerous, interfering with the way oxygen travels in the bloodstream. It can even cause central nervous system damage.

• Particulate Matter: PM is a term that describes solid and liquid particles suspended in the air. PM 2.5 is less than 2.5 micrometers or smaller in diameter, and is generated by fuel combustion. PM 2.5 is a major health risk: these particles pass through the nose and throat and lodge in the lungs, causing tissue damage, aggravating respiratory problems, and even causing premature death.