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Clean Air Achievers: Project development and Pilot

Clean Air Champions is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization. Its mission is to improve air quality by working with respected athletes to motivate and educate Canadians to adopt practices and lifestyles that enhance both environmental and personal health.

What are they doing?

The Clean Air Achievers program is based on the belief that informed and motivated individuals are more likely to have the personal desire to make the right choices – choices that will benefit their health, the air they breathe and even their pocketbooks.

Young Canadians become a Clean Air Achiever by recording what form of active or sustainable transportation they practiced on a given day through an informative website. The program will automatically calculate the amount of emissions that were prevented from being released by the Achiever. This information will be saved in the Achiever’s diary enabling them to earn incentives.

The Achievers Mentorship part of the program will allow top Achievers to apply to become mentors in their communities, promoting the goals of the program to others. Clean Air Champion athletes will be part of the incentives and rewards program as guest speakers or facilitators and will be featured on the website.

What did the project accomplish?

The Clean Air Achievers pilot program sought to promote and encourage more active and healthier sustainable transportation choices amongst elementary school aged children. The pilot took place in five elementary level schools in the Greater Toronto Area and involved almost 200 grade 5 and 6 students. The project had the students keep a travel diary that tracked the number of trips they made, their distance and the mode used. The students were encouraged to enter their information on a website which then calculated their GHG emissions per trip and overall. The website also contained active transportation games and quizzes and resource materials for teachers. Notable results include:

  • 942 individuals directly reached through presentations and events, including 185 student participants
  • Very positive reception amongst parents, teachers and children
  • Partners included four environmental organizations, Toronto's two School Boards and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
  • An easy to use GHG calculator developed for use on the project website
  • Participants increased weekly physical activity through active transportation choices
  • Results limited by age of target audience who were too young for required data entry and tracking tasks
  • 75% of participants enjoyed the project

Where can you find more information?

Clean Air Champions

Image - Clean Air Champions Logo

Date modified:
2010-02-03