DEQ to celebrate Air Quality Awareness Week

Statewide, Wyo. – For a second-consecutive year, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) – Air Quality Division (AQD) will join the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in celebrating Air Quality Awareness Week from May 1-5, 2017.

The national theme for 2017 is “Be Air Aware” – and DEQ’s planned outreach events and messaging are focused on inspiring Wyoming’s citizens to take action in reducing their respective contributions, no matter how small or large, to air pollution.

DEQ will expand its community outreach efforts from its inaugural year of participation. This year, DEQ staff members will visit students at public schools and the University of Wyoming, providing the Cowboy State’s youth with engaging educational opportunities for learning more about the importance of air quality and how DEQ works to keep Wyoming’s air clean.

Additionally, DEQ will also launch its #leadingtheway social media campaign, encouraging citizens to share the many ways in which they make positive impacts on Wyoming’s environment through social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

“Maintaining clean air in Wyoming truly ensures the quality of life that we all deeply appreciate about this State, so it is something that we want our citizens to actively participate and take pride in,” said Nancy Vehr, AQD Administrator. “That is why we are excited to invite the people of Wyoming to take part in celebrating Air Quality Awareness Week by sharing the ways in which they make positive environmental impacts.”  

DEQ will contact several random winners who have shared social media content with the #leadingtheway hashtag and mail them DEQ t-shirts. It’s a little added incentive to inspire the Cowboy State’s residents to share their passion for the environment and taking care of it.

 “We want the people of Wyoming to know their efforts help us make a difference in ensuring cleaner air for our State,” Vehr said. “The ‘Be Air Aware’ campaign and DEQ’s outreach efforts, will provide some excellent educational resources and will further encourage folks to share why they are passionate about Wyoming’s outdoors and its environment.”   

Similarly to 2016, DEQ will also reach out to citizens who have subscribed to its email updates with daily tips on how they can “Educate. Enact. Empower.” regarding their respective contributions to preserving clean air in Wyoming.

Each day’s tip will contain informative facts and useful practices to encourage cleaner air.

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For more information, and to see each day’s email blast, visit http://deq.wyoming.gov/aqd/.

For more information on national air quality trends, visit https://www.epa.gov/air-trends.

For more tips on daily activities to keep the air cleaner, visit https://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=resources.whatyoucando.

To sign up for DEQ-AQD’s email updates, visit https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/WYDEQ/subscriber/new?topic_id=WYDEQ_2.

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