Raising awareness for Climate Action!

What is our problem and how does it relate to the global goals?

Our issue is air pollution. It is an environmental issue that impacts the whole world. Pollution is a major issue and HUGE problem that is going to worsen if we do not take action now. It relates to Global Goal 13, Climate Action because air pollution changes our planet’s climate.

How did we decide on our problem?

Our top 3 problems that we had to narrow down into was Hunger, Pollution and Poverty. We ended up deciding on Pollution because it is an issue that affects the whole world and our team strongly believes that there are small changes the GIS Community can make, which can help reduce pollution, which can make a huge difference to our planet’s climate.

What is air pollution? 

Air Pollution is the presence in or introduction into the air of a substance which has harmful or poisonous effects. The substances that causes air pollution are called pollutants.

What are the causes and effects of air pollution?

One of the major causes of air pollution is the burning of fossil fuels. Sulphur dioxide are emitted from the combustion of fossil fuels like coal and petroleum.

You would last only a few minutes without air! On average, each of us breathe over 3,000 gallons of air each day. You must have air to live! During early stages of lung development, air pollution can contribute to early childhood asthma. It also increases the rate of heart diseases such as heart attacks and also increases the chance of cancer and other health issues. Air pollution isn’t just a threat to our health, it also damages our environment. The toxic air pollutants can damage trees, crops, wildlife, lakes and other bodies of water, which would harm fish and other aquatic life. The health, environmental, and economic impacts of air pollution are significant. Each day, air pollution causes thousands of illnesses leading to lost days at work and school.

What is our solution?

Our intention is to attempt to reduce the amount of air pollution contributing to many health problems. 

After brainstorming countless ideas, we decided on the idea of carpooling. The reasoning behind WHY we chose carpooling is because we thought it is a fun and efficient method to conserve fuel as it contributes to the burning of fossil fuel which we will run out soon if nothing is being done to prevent that. Comparing to the other ideas we came up with, it is much more attainable and efficient!

To target the primary students, we're going to distribute flyers promoting more usage of carpooling to the drivers/ parents in the pick-up area. 

On the other hand, to target the secondary students, we created a social media platform ( instagram ) as we believe as a team that it is a quick and accessible platform to post updates, as well as share facts, graphs, pictures and information on air pollution. 

How does our solution work to solve the problem?

Cars and other vehicles release hazardous carbon emissions into the air which pollutes it. If you carpool, it means there will be fewer cars on the road, which will reduce the amount of sulphur dioxide released.

What would our solution look like in a year? 2 years? 5 years?

If everyone starts carpooling and get into this daily routine/ habit, I'm sure this solution would go on and on, for years, and gradually change the air quality.

Barriers in making this solution a reality?

Everyone will have to cooperate in our little carpooling project, in order to see a change. There will certainly be some challenges along the way to convince people to carpool.

What can your sponsor money help us to achieve?

With your sponsor money, we can afford to measure carbon emissions, using air quality meters in the car park, in garden school before and after our solution is applied. This will help us find out how successful our solution is and will allow to track our success and see if carpooling is truly making a difference!