Breathing keeps us alive. An act we do 20,000 times a day unconsciously and which is essential for the proper functioning of each cell in our body. But what are we breathing?
According to data, much of the air that enters our lungs is highly harmful. In Spain they are produced 30,000 premature deaths each year because of air pollution. This figure is 21 times higher than the deaths caused by road accidents. There is also scientific evidence linking pollution to increased cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, among others.
Children, like adolescents, are particularly vulnerable face this threat, since the ratio between their body weight and the volume of air breathed is greater. That’s why the youngest are the stars of the new Ecologists in Action campaign, baptized with a phrase that speaks for itself: “When I grow up, I want to breathe clean air”.
Over the next four months, the campaign will organize workshops in different educational centers in Madrid, Murcia and Vigo, aimed at high school students. The objective: to make students aware of the negative consequences of pollution, not only on health, but also in relation to its contribution to climate change and the loss of biodiversity. At the end of the workshops, the students’ proposals for improving the air quality in the city will be collected, which will be presented in the respective town halls.
cities for the car
“The city model of most Spanish cities is designed by and for the car, favoring and reproducing urban pollution as a structural problem. highlights Milena Radovich, campaign coordinator in Madrid. “Road traffic accounts for 80% of urban pollution emissions, of which the car is the main culprit”.
Carmen Torralba, campaign coordinator in Murcia, added: “The poor designs of our cities also cause high levels of noise pollution and insecurity in the streets. When the car is the main protagonist, pedestrians are relegated to the background, preventing children from freely enjoying the public space represented by the street”.
Ana Díaz Freiría, campaign coordinator in Vigo, concluded: “We are not aware of the public space and the tranquility that traffic takes away from us. When a street is pedestrianized, it is peaceful”.