Where it all began - Breathe Easy 2020
In 2020, Ecology Ottawa’s volunteers collected air quality data from 40 sites across Ottawa, measuring particulate matter, ozone and nitrogen dioxide (which is produced by Ontario’s fleet of 18,000 diesel school buses) in the air. Over 150 volunteers trained to use the devices for air quality monitoring across Ottawa, while five more were involved in the data management, analysis and mapping effort. The campaign was Ottawa’s largest community-led science project and we are so proud to be leading such a critical campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of air pollution all around us.
See the interactive map with the data points from the 2020 campaign below.
We focused on the most vulnerable sectors of the population, including children in schools and seniors in care homes. Driven by studies on air quality specifically in school zones, a number of our sites were located outside of schools so that we could assess the effect of diesel buses as well as other vehicle emissions where children are being dropped off in the morning. The results of such studies are particularly notable in relation to the location of kindergartens, which are often right beside bus drop-off locations and of course involve highly vulnerable individuals on account of their small size.