Ozone Alert! All Season Long

Although Tulsa has not yet had an actual Ozone Alert! issued, it is that time of year when car exhaust is cooked by high temperatures and sunlight and then forms ozone. Ozone in the lower atmosphere can cause real health problems for many people. That’s why the EPA has changed the air standards that municipalities are required to meet. Everyone’s help is needed so that Tulsa can comply and maintain clean air in Tulsa.

This year’s promotional campaign begins this week. You’ll be hearing radio ads and seeing television commercials that ask Tulsans to make changes all summer long to reduce the amount of ozone we all add to the air each day.

Here are simple ways you can reduce the ozone you produce, and make a difference in the quality of Tulsa’s air:

• Buy your gasoline at night, after the sun has set (fumes released during fill up won’t be cooked by sunlight and form ozone)
• Wait until late evening or even dusk to mow your yard or use gas-powered yard tools (fumes released by equipment won’t be cooked by sunlight and form ozone)
• Combine your daily car trips and plan your route to get everything done in only one outing (reduces fumes going into the air from your car’s exhaust)
• Don’t let your car run while sitting idle, especially when using the air conditioner (reduces fumes going into the air from your car’s exhaust)
• Bring your lunch to work instead of driving to get lunch in the heat of the day (reduces fumes from your car at a critical time of day)
• Carpool (reduces the volume of fumes from cars during the critical morning commute)
• Ride your bike or walk (reduces fumes all day)
• Ride the bus! During the summer, MTTA is offering 50 cent bus rides on Friday, thanks to a donation from Sunoco (reduces the volume of fumes all day)