(more on) Utah Clean Air Conference

There was a few other points from the Utah Moms for Clean Air Conference I attended last Saturday that I really wanted to tell you about.  The first speaker, Jaron Hansen, PhD and Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry at BYU, pointed out that the three main contributors for air pollution in the Salt Lake and Utah Valleys (and I'm assuming in general anywhere in the US).  These are:

• diesel fuel emissions
• other motor vehicle emissions
• wood burning

And on the topic of wood burning, he noted a generous program called The Wood Stove Changeout Program through the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) that I found quite intriguing.  Apparently, if you are living in an area that qualifies for the program, the government will give you up to 30% or $1500 to change out your old stove and replace it with a much more efficient one that emits 70-90% less pollution into the air.  I thought that sounded like a really great idea for those of you who either primarily heat your homes with a wood burning stove or for those of you who just like to light a fire for the ambiance.  I know in the past we have!

What a fantastic way to get some of the gunk out of our air by using the incentive for you to replace your old stove with a brand new one!  If purchasing a new stove is not in your budget, there are other ways to reduce the pollutants you put into the air with your current stove such as always cleaning out the ash in the stove and making sure to burn only dry, seasoned wood instead of wet wood.  You can find out more details to this program and other ways to ensure you are doing all that you can to reduce the pollutants you put into the air by checking out the following sites below:

WoodStoveChangeout.Org
EPA

Mommy Bridget