Global Action Plan’ (GAP) Clean Air Team Launch New Campaign on the Harms of Wood Burning and New ‘Clean Air Night’ on 24 January 2024:
Global Action Plan’ (GAP) the charity that mobilises people and organisations to take action on systems that harm people and our planet and who are the organisers on National ‘Clean Air Day’ have informed us that they are launching a new campaign – Clean Air Night (a sister campaign) – to shine a light on the uncomfortable truth about wood burning, sparking a national conversation about the harms of wood burning.
The first Clean Air Night will spotlight three important truths about wood burning – that it:
- Harms your wallet: wood burning is almost always more expensive than other forms of heating.
- Harms your health: lighting fires in our homes is the largest source of harmful small particulate matter air pollution in the UK.
- Harms the planet: wood burning creates more harmful CO2 emissions compared to other forms of heating.
There is currently low awareness among the public of this important issue, but by sharing the information and the facts about wood burning we can ensure that the public can make informed choices to protect their health and that of their communities, as well as the planet.
Clean Air Night aims to bust key myths about wood burning by providing information to the public highlighting that wood burning is a significant source of air pollution that harms people’s health.
The campaign will run for four weeks, culminating in Clean Air Night which takes place on Wednesday 24 January 2024.
Starting at sundown (4:35pm) on Clean Air Night, leading experts will further reveal the truth about wood burning to the public through a series of videos. There will also be a Clean Air Night Summit, where organisations and local authorities can speak directly to experts and share learnings.
There are two ways that members of the public can get involved with the first-ever Clean Air Night:
- Learn: from experts on the night in GAPs explainer videos and find out more about burning wood by visiting the ‘Clean Air Hub’ at https://www.cleanairhub.org.uk/home and exploring the hashtag #CleanAirNight.
- Share this information with your Union members, community, family, friends and other organisations in order to help shine a light on key myths and protect people and the planet from the harms of wood burning.
Clean Air Night has been developed using the latest research into how to communicate about wood burning, recently shared with the sector in a ‘Toolkit’ produced by Global Action Plan in partnership with ‘Impact on Urban Health’, behavioural experts Kantar and creative agency Dog, Cat & Mouse. The toolkit is here: https://urbanhealth.org.uk/insights/reports/woodburning
GAP will be producing free resources for supporters of Clean Air Night so they can share the truth about wood burning with the public, helping them to protect themselves, their families and their communities. This will include a communications toolkit including week-by-week social media templates, newsletter copy and downloadable posters.
In a launch statement GAP’s Head of Clean Air Programmes, said: “Most of us have cosy memories of sitting around a fire. And of course, we all want to stay warm this winter. But the uncomfortable truth is lighting fires in our homes is the largest source of small particle air pollution in the UK, causing serious harm to our lungs, heart and brain health. On top of this, burning wood produces more carbon dioxide than coal or gas. We want to help protect people and the planet by shining a light on the uncomfortable truth about wood burning, ensuring that everyone can make informed decisions to protect themselves, their families and the environment.”
The amount of harmful small particle air pollution caused by domestic burning has more than doubled over the past ten years in the UK.
‘Global Action Plan’ is a charitable NGO which mobilises people and organisations to take action on the systems that harm us and our planet. They aim to tackle the root causes of climate and nature crises through research, campaigns and collective action. They focus on issues where the connection between the health of people and the planet is most tangible. This allows GAP to show the interrelationship and drive solutions that prioritise wellbeing for all. GAP states that Air pollution is the biggest environmental threat to people and the planet. The elimination of the use of fossil fuels (and wood) in transport and home heating in urban areas is required and GAP aims to achieve this by working with change makers across the country to drive behaviour change, and by exerting pressure on the UK government and major polluters.
Over the coming weeks, GAP will share more information about the new campaign – including free resources that can be used to raise awareness and educate people about the harms of wood burning. Further information will be published in due course.
See attached:
“Impact on Urban Health” Report on Wood Burning (published in ‘The Guardian’).
Further Information on ‘GAP’
Global Action Plan
Notcutt House
Southwark Bridge Road
London, SE1 9EU
email cleanerair@globalactionplan.org.uk
Yours sincerely
Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer
Air pollution-Wood-Burners-More-Costly-Than-Gas-Boilers-Guardian-Report-…
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 
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