Why Healthy Air Living?

When we breathe cleaner, we live better – that’s the point of Healthy Air Living!

Healthy Air Living is an initiative that provides ways to make decisions, day to day, that take into consideration their effect on Valley air quality. Healthy Air Living is a “toolbox” of ideas and strategies that help each of us take voluntary, high-impact measures in our personal lives and workplace to reduce emissions.

Through Healthy Air Living, We Can:

Reduce the number of vehicle miles traveled through the Valley each day
Reduce emissions from equipment and processes
Reduce emissions during times when air quality is poor

Healthy Air Living will give you the resources you need to incorporate clean-air strategies into your life and connect you to other people who want to help us breathe healthier air.

Live a Healthy Air life!

Brochures

What is the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District

The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, or Air District for short, is the local regulatory agency for air quality in eight counties in the Central San Joaquin Valley. The Air District is a public health agency, whose mission is to improve the health and quality of life for all Valley residents through efficient, effective and entrepreneurial air quality management strategies.

The Air District’s job is to regulate stationary sources of pollution, such as manufacturing plants, gas stations, other businesses and agricultural activities. The Air District also awards grant money and funding to help individuals, businesses and municipalities switch to practices that produce fewer emissions.

Three Regions That Comprise the Air District:

Northern Region (San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Merced counties), with an office in Modesto
Central Region (Madera, Fresno and Kings counties), with an office in Fresno
Southern Region (Tulare and some portions of Kern counties), with an office in Bakersfield.

The Air District employs roughly 350 highly skilled and educated professionals, ranging from engineers and environmental scientists, to technical specialists, inspectors, outreach staff and administration.

Video Contest Winner

"What is a Healthy Air Life?" Video Contest Winner! (Click to view)

Success Stories

What people, businesses and local community groups are doing to take part in Healthy Air Living.

Personal:

Don Hunsaker, Planning Dept. SJVAPCD

"We use clotheslines to dry clothes instead of dryer, no drive days on weekends (about 80% of our weekends have no car trips), composting 100% of green waste (we use a worm composter), growing our own fruit and vegetables and buying only locally-grown produce, and carpool in a Prius for most commutes."

Business: (See all of them in the Business Section)

Paramount Farms, Northwestern Kern County

They have installed a solar energy farm. The energy provided can offset a significant amount of plant operations, saving fossil-fuel derived grid power.
In addition, the facility operates employee van pools for its sites in Lost Hills and Kings County.
The Lost Hills facility has a cafeteria to keep employees from commuting offsite for meals.
The facility saves travel with teleconferencing between offices in Lost Hills and Santa Monica, and allows employee telecommuting.

Pelco, Fresno

Wide variety of employee focused programs which reduce vehicle miles travelled, including, bike to work, flex work schedules, bus incentives, and onsite food service, Postal services and dry cleaning service.

IKEA Wholesale

IKEA participates and encourages in carpooling and other alternative transportation with subsidies, and competitions between all of the word-wide outlets to see who can do the most.
IKEA has a telecommuting program that allows some job classifications to work from home.
EPA SmartWay Truck Fleet Charter Member, and award winner. IKEA requires that all contract carriers are part of the SmartWay program which seeks to cut idling, and improve mileage in order to reduce emissions.
IKEA conducts energy use audits for its facilities, and has instituted a program of energy savings at the local plant. A project to use motion and daylight controlled lighting in conjunction with skylights saved enough energy to pay for itself in 6 months.
IKEA is considering solar power for the facility south of Bakersfield, and geothermal power for a facility in Canada. Their goal is to be 100% renewable. They use electric forklifts.
IKEA contracts with a catering service to keep employees on site for meals.
IKEA educates its employees about environmental concerns and energy savings and hopes to gain a 20% savings from this activity.
Company has a no-idling policy at every facility.

Panella Trucking

They have participated in the ERIP program
They have added 66 particulate filters, and installed 11 engine repower retrofits
Of their 300 trucks, 100 are 1993 or older that they would like to replace.
On their ranching operations they have replaced several old diesel pump engines with the help of Moyer funds.
They are replacing their maintenance trucks (1/2 ton and ¾ ton) with smaller more fuel-efficient models. The saving in fuels covers most of the cost of the new vehicles.