STREET AIR receives "Gold National Planning Achievement Award" by the American Planning Association.
For more information, click here:
National Planning Achievement Award for a Grassroots Initiative
Press Release : http://streetair.org/press-releases.html
Street Air is proud to announce that we received a Gold National Planning Achievement Award from the American Planning Association. The award is for our study of air pollution levels near outdoor eating areas along Columbus Avenue and for the associated recommendations for solutions.
News
Google Street View Air Pollution Data is being evaluated by Street Air
Google recently authorized Street Air to view and evaluate its Street View air pollution data. Street Air is identifying PM 1, PM 2.5 and NOx hot spots for further research and study. Street Air’s goal is to identify the reason for the hot spot; identify possible mitigations, and; quantify the hot spot boundaries. See http://streetair.org/maps-and-data.html
The Green Screen
The Green Screen is a new Street Air program that identifies neighborhood environmental issues, then brings the issue to the public's attention through the use of film. We call it a persistent film festival as the site will add new content as it is created. Neighborhoods can't wait a year or more for a film festival to show a film about a particular cause or issue because neighborhood health issues need to be brought to the public's immediate attention. This "film festival" will be always open and available for viewing. We welcome interested person's to join us and and submit their films for use in this this project: www.thegreenscreen.org.
STREET AIR receives "Outstanding Achievement" award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. On April 9, 2019 The US Environmental Protection Agency awarded Zelda Zivny, Charlie Millenbah and Milo Wetherall "Outstanding Achievement" awards as a part of the agency's Presidential Environmental Youth Awards program. The award was for founding Street Air and completing Street Air's Airgregates project and other long-term environmental science projects.
"Columbus Discovers Air Pollution" Film
Link to film here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMMIaQ206EY
Charlie Millenbah 's Hoodline interview regarding the Street Air project: https://hoodline.com/2018/04/sf-students-win-top-honors-in-national-planning-competition
STREET AIR on Earth Day
https://www.planning.org/blog/blogpost/9175653/
"Airgregates" New Film Released by STREET AIR
Street Air completes its newest film, "Airgregates", about the effects of Pier 92 concrete mixing plants on the Bayview Community. November 11, 2018. See film here: https://youtu.be/yqCoSgbyhyw A note on dispersal of particulates at this concrete mixing site; We have found that wind direction changes to the east at night and in the early mornings, as well as during the winter months. The facility is often open on weekends, night and very early mornings. Local residents have reported sand on their cars in the morning or that they have to close their windows at night. The film was recently awarded "Finalist" in the 2019 Clear the Air Film Festival in San Francisco.
Los Angeles has found that siting apartments near freeways has caused problems for residents due to the diurnal shifts in wind direction and patterns. The LA studies have also found that particulates travel much further at night than during the day. "Postpone outdoor exercise to later in the morning to dodge the spike in traffic pollution in the pre-sunrise hours. That’s when stagnant weather conditions, caused by nighttime cooling, trap freeway pollution near the ground. That slows down the dispersal of emissions, allowing them to drift more than a mile downwind, compared to no more than 1,000 feet during the day". Source:
https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-freeway-pollution-what-you-can-do-20171230h
Air Pollution Linked to Neurological Disorders
Air pollution was significantly associated with an increased risk of hospital admissions for several neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and other dementias, in a long-term study of more than 63 million older U.S. adults, led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The study, conducted with colleagues at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, is the first nationwide analysis of the link between fine particulate (PM2.5) pollution and neurodegenerative diseases in the U.S. The researchers leveraged an unparalleled amount of data compared to any previous study of air pollution and neurological disorders.
The study was published by The Lancet Planetary Health, online October 19, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30227-8
Massive study reported by The Lancet shows that PM 2.5 causes diabetes. "Interpretation: The global toll of diabetes attributable to PM2·5 air pollution is significant. Reduction in exposure will yield substantial health benefits". The study is titled, "The 2016 global and national burden of diabetes mellitus attributable to PM2·5 air pollution" and can be found here:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpla/article/PIIS2542-5196(18)30140-2/fulltext
Air Pollution Might be the New Lead. Research on the effects of air pollution on cognitive function is getting more sophisticated. Recent studies have shown that the long term effects of air pollution on human brain development may be significant. Read the Popular Science article here.: https://www.popsci.com/air-pollution-lead-poisoning-brain-development
STREET AIR completes first PM1 restaurant studies on 4/14/18. http://streetair.org/pm-1-research.html
STREET AIR receives new custom PM1 monitors from Dylos. (4/12/18). http://streetair.org/pm-1-research.html
STREET AIR begins PM 1 study along Columbus Ave. and in nearby restaurants on January 2018. The PM 1 study will be enlarged to other areas of San Francisco as PM 1 data is generally missing in urban pollution data (especially specific location data). Additionally, the Journal of the American Medical Association has recently published data on how certain levels of PM 1 concentrations can cause premature births, and; ".... findings suggest that most of the emergency hospital visits attributed to PM2·5 are due to PM1." http://streetair.org/pm-1-research.html
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ABOUT STREET AIR
Zelda Zivny, Charlie Millenbah and Milo Wetherall, who are her North Beach neighbors and schoolmates, were walking along Columbus Ave and noticed a large increase in vehicle traffic along the street, especially commercial traffic. We also noticed a new city parklet that put eating places further into the street and closer to the traffic. “Is this safe”? “Is this a good place to eat”? We wondered. The three of us decided to study Columbus Avenue's design and also to take pollution measurements along the street where people walk, ride their bikes, and where they eat. We eventually called this project Street Air. Now in its third year, we have expanded our inquiry and we are now interested in the effects of street-level air pollution on nearby restaurants and on the people who work there ( http://streetair.org/particle-dispersal-study.html).
We eventually won awards at the Clear the Air Film Festival (sponsored by the Bay Area Air Quality District and Breathe California) for our film "Columbus Discovers Air Pollution" that documented our early discovery of particulate pollution along Columbus Avenue. We won the "Best Film" award, and we were also awarded the "Audience Favorite" award for the entire festival. Based on the success of the film at the Clear the Air Film Festival, our group was invited to show Zelda and Charlie's film "Climate Change" at the San Francisco Green Film Festival . We were also selected to show our film "Columbus Discovers Air Pollution" at the San Francisco Urban Film Festival at SPUR headquarters in downtown San Francisco. After this screening, our group agreed to appear in a panel discussion with City of San Francisco planning staff to discuss our recommended design changes to the street and city 'parklets." (Please see the "Project Description," "Recommendations," and the "Particle Dispersal Study" pages on this web site for more information on the project methodology and research results). Note, we studied both 'parklets' and regular outdoor street-side eating areas for this study.
San Francisco Urban Film Festival (City of San Francisco Staff Present)
After our film was screened at SPUR headquarters in downtown San Francisco, we moved to the front of the theater to engage in a panel discussion and to answer audience questions. Besides the three of us, also present was Robin Abad Ocubillo, Urban Designer and Planner with the City Design Group of the City of San Francisco Planning Department. Mr. Ocubillo was involved with the first designs of the city parklets including the Columbus Avenue parklet that we monitored in our study of Columbus Ave. The result of our screening and the panel conversations with Mr. Ocubillo was that the city was working on making changes in street design standards and the city supported the recommendations we made in the film. Mr. Ocubillo StreetAir should get involved with the educating the community, and to work with city staff in developing a new design of Columbus Avenue that makes more room for pedestrians. City staff and the three of us believe that if local businesses and residents knew of the environmental health dangers of poorly designed outdoor eating places, that the community would then be more open to reducing street parking and vehicle traffic on Columbus Ave (see the article on our process: https://www.newamerica.org/ca/blogs/film-catalyst-innovation-urban-planning/ ).
As a group we are interested in environmental science and using science in an applied way. That is, we want to use science to find solutions to local environmental policy issues and to develop urban designs that will help mitigate human exposure to street-edge air pollution. We are also interested in helping build a body of knowledge of local street-edge air pollution in terms of what types of pollution exist , in what quantities, and its composition. We are also interested in how this pollution disperses and how it impacts various local residents and people who engage in various activities along the street.
For more information, click here:
National Planning Achievement Award for a Grassroots Initiative
Press Release : http://streetair.org/press-releases.html
Street Air is proud to announce that we received a Gold National Planning Achievement Award from the American Planning Association. The award is for our study of air pollution levels near outdoor eating areas along Columbus Avenue and for the associated recommendations for solutions.
News
Google Street View Air Pollution Data is being evaluated by Street Air
Google recently authorized Street Air to view and evaluate its Street View air pollution data. Street Air is identifying PM 1, PM 2.5 and NOx hot spots for further research and study. Street Air’s goal is to identify the reason for the hot spot; identify possible mitigations, and; quantify the hot spot boundaries. See http://streetair.org/maps-and-data.html
The Green Screen
The Green Screen is a new Street Air program that identifies neighborhood environmental issues, then brings the issue to the public's attention through the use of film. We call it a persistent film festival as the site will add new content as it is created. Neighborhoods can't wait a year or more for a film festival to show a film about a particular cause or issue because neighborhood health issues need to be brought to the public's immediate attention. This "film festival" will be always open and available for viewing. We welcome interested person's to join us and and submit their films for use in this this project: www.thegreenscreen.org.
STREET AIR receives "Outstanding Achievement" award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. On April 9, 2019 The US Environmental Protection Agency awarded Zelda Zivny, Charlie Millenbah and Milo Wetherall "Outstanding Achievement" awards as a part of the agency's Presidential Environmental Youth Awards program. The award was for founding Street Air and completing Street Air's Airgregates project and other long-term environmental science projects.
"Columbus Discovers Air Pollution" Film
Link to film here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMMIaQ206EY
Charlie Millenbah 's Hoodline interview regarding the Street Air project: https://hoodline.com/2018/04/sf-students-win-top-honors-in-national-planning-competition
STREET AIR on Earth Day
https://www.planning.org/blog/blogpost/9175653/
"Airgregates" New Film Released by STREET AIR
Street Air completes its newest film, "Airgregates", about the effects of Pier 92 concrete mixing plants on the Bayview Community. November 11, 2018. See film here: https://youtu.be/yqCoSgbyhyw A note on dispersal of particulates at this concrete mixing site; We have found that wind direction changes to the east at night and in the early mornings, as well as during the winter months. The facility is often open on weekends, night and very early mornings. Local residents have reported sand on their cars in the morning or that they have to close their windows at night. The film was recently awarded "Finalist" in the 2019 Clear the Air Film Festival in San Francisco.
Los Angeles has found that siting apartments near freeways has caused problems for residents due to the diurnal shifts in wind direction and patterns. The LA studies have also found that particulates travel much further at night than during the day. "Postpone outdoor exercise to later in the morning to dodge the spike in traffic pollution in the pre-sunrise hours. That’s when stagnant weather conditions, caused by nighttime cooling, trap freeway pollution near the ground. That slows down the dispersal of emissions, allowing them to drift more than a mile downwind, compared to no more than 1,000 feet during the day". Source:
https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-freeway-pollution-what-you-can-do-20171230h
Air Pollution Linked to Neurological Disorders
Air pollution was significantly associated with an increased risk of hospital admissions for several neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and other dementias, in a long-term study of more than 63 million older U.S. adults, led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The study, conducted with colleagues at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, is the first nationwide analysis of the link between fine particulate (PM2.5) pollution and neurodegenerative diseases in the U.S. The researchers leveraged an unparalleled amount of data compared to any previous study of air pollution and neurological disorders.
The study was published by The Lancet Planetary Health, online October 19, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30227-8
Massive study reported by The Lancet shows that PM 2.5 causes diabetes. "Interpretation: The global toll of diabetes attributable to PM2·5 air pollution is significant. Reduction in exposure will yield substantial health benefits". The study is titled, "The 2016 global and national burden of diabetes mellitus attributable to PM2·5 air pollution" and can be found here:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpla/article/PIIS2542-5196(18)30140-2/fulltext
Air Pollution Might be the New Lead. Research on the effects of air pollution on cognitive function is getting more sophisticated. Recent studies have shown that the long term effects of air pollution on human brain development may be significant. Read the Popular Science article here.: https://www.popsci.com/air-pollution-lead-poisoning-brain-development
STREET AIR completes first PM1 restaurant studies on 4/14/18. http://streetair.org/pm-1-research.html
STREET AIR receives new custom PM1 monitors from Dylos. (4/12/18). http://streetair.org/pm-1-research.html
STREET AIR begins PM 1 study along Columbus Ave. and in nearby restaurants on January 2018. The PM 1 study will be enlarged to other areas of San Francisco as PM 1 data is generally missing in urban pollution data (especially specific location data). Additionally, the Journal of the American Medical Association has recently published data on how certain levels of PM 1 concentrations can cause premature births, and; ".... findings suggest that most of the emergency hospital visits attributed to PM2·5 are due to PM1." http://streetair.org/pm-1-research.html
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ABOUT STREET AIR
Zelda Zivny, Charlie Millenbah and Milo Wetherall, who are her North Beach neighbors and schoolmates, were walking along Columbus Ave and noticed a large increase in vehicle traffic along the street, especially commercial traffic. We also noticed a new city parklet that put eating places further into the street and closer to the traffic. “Is this safe”? “Is this a good place to eat”? We wondered. The three of us decided to study Columbus Avenue's design and also to take pollution measurements along the street where people walk, ride their bikes, and where they eat. We eventually called this project Street Air. Now in its third year, we have expanded our inquiry and we are now interested in the effects of street-level air pollution on nearby restaurants and on the people who work there ( http://streetair.org/particle-dispersal-study.html).
We eventually won awards at the Clear the Air Film Festival (sponsored by the Bay Area Air Quality District and Breathe California) for our film "Columbus Discovers Air Pollution" that documented our early discovery of particulate pollution along Columbus Avenue. We won the "Best Film" award, and we were also awarded the "Audience Favorite" award for the entire festival. Based on the success of the film at the Clear the Air Film Festival, our group was invited to show Zelda and Charlie's film "Climate Change" at the San Francisco Green Film Festival . We were also selected to show our film "Columbus Discovers Air Pollution" at the San Francisco Urban Film Festival at SPUR headquarters in downtown San Francisco. After this screening, our group agreed to appear in a panel discussion with City of San Francisco planning staff to discuss our recommended design changes to the street and city 'parklets." (Please see the "Project Description," "Recommendations," and the "Particle Dispersal Study" pages on this web site for more information on the project methodology and research results). Note, we studied both 'parklets' and regular outdoor street-side eating areas for this study.
San Francisco Urban Film Festival (City of San Francisco Staff Present)
After our film was screened at SPUR headquarters in downtown San Francisco, we moved to the front of the theater to engage in a panel discussion and to answer audience questions. Besides the three of us, also present was Robin Abad Ocubillo, Urban Designer and Planner with the City Design Group of the City of San Francisco Planning Department. Mr. Ocubillo was involved with the first designs of the city parklets including the Columbus Avenue parklet that we monitored in our study of Columbus Ave. The result of our screening and the panel conversations with Mr. Ocubillo was that the city was working on making changes in street design standards and the city supported the recommendations we made in the film. Mr. Ocubillo StreetAir should get involved with the educating the community, and to work with city staff in developing a new design of Columbus Avenue that makes more room for pedestrians. City staff and the three of us believe that if local businesses and residents knew of the environmental health dangers of poorly designed outdoor eating places, that the community would then be more open to reducing street parking and vehicle traffic on Columbus Ave (see the article on our process: https://www.newamerica.org/ca/blogs/film-catalyst-innovation-urban-planning/ ).
As a group we are interested in environmental science and using science in an applied way. That is, we want to use science to find solutions to local environmental policy issues and to develop urban designs that will help mitigate human exposure to street-edge air pollution. We are also interested in helping build a body of knowledge of local street-edge air pollution in terms of what types of pollution exist , in what quantities, and its composition. We are also interested in how this pollution disperses and how it impacts various local residents and people who engage in various activities along the street.
Post screening panel discussion with festival audience regarding the design of Columbus Ave.
L to R; Charlie Millenbah, Zelda Zivny, Milos Wetherall,
Robin Ocubillo of the City of San Francisco Planning Department, and Fay Darmawi producer of the SF Urban Film Fest.
StreetAir Receives Award of Excellence from the Northern California Chapter American Planning Association
Click the arrow on the picture above to hear the American Planning Association's Presentation about the StreetAir Project.
Charlie, Milo,and Zelda Zivny receiving Award of Excellence from Northern California Chapter President Sharon Grewal.
June 2, 2017 Oakland, California
June 2, 2017 Oakland, California
StreetAir Receives State of California Award of Merit from the American Planning Association
Statewide Award
Zelda Zivny and Charlie Millenbah receiving the State of California Award from Pete Parkinson, California APA President. September 24, 2017 Sacramento, California.
