Actions we can all take

Air pollution damages our lungs, heart and brain.

The good news is that we can all take action to help reduce emissions and reduce our exposure to emissions, whether we are a resident, business or a school.

Please join us by making a few changes to improve our air quality. Together we can make a difference.

Click on these tabs to see what action you can take.

 

Residents

What you can do to reduce your fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions:

  • Walk, cycle and take public transport, to reduce car journeys
  • Avoid idling - switch your car engine off, whenever your car is stationary
  • Embrace the 15 minute city rule - support local businesses: shops, gyms, plumbers …..
  • When shopping online, choose suppliers that use environmentally friendly delivery methods – such as electric vans, cargo bikes, e-bikes and cycles
  • Use delivery hubs to reduce courier mileage to individual customers' homes: click and collect!

What you can do to reduce your exposure to pollution:

  • Download the app that helps you take routes using less polluted streets.
  • Download the app that shows daily pollution levels, and try to avoid being outside if pollution levels are high.
  • Switch on your kitchen hood and fans during and after cooking and avoid wood burning stoves
  • Early in the morning, open windows for 5-10 minutes each day, to air your home

Schools and Nurseries

Schools and nurseries can help raise awareness of air pollution and our campaign by:

  • Displaying our Clean Air Bayswater poster in your school
  • Agreeing to hold a 15 minute Breathe London Air Pollution assembly for your pupils, aimed at helping them understand what air pollution is
  • Including updates on the findings of the two air pollution monitors and the Clean Air Bayswater campaign in your school newsletter
  • Encouraging your pupils to complete this air pollution quiz at home or in the class room
  • Participating in the 15 June 2023 Clean Air Day campaign
  • Signing your school up for the free Climate Ed workshops for schools in Westminster

Please speak to our Clean Air Bayswater team about other ideas you have, and how we can help.

Businesses

  1. Please show your support for Clean Air Bayswater by putting our mini poster in your shop window
     
  2. Take action to reduce your business’s emissions by considering:
    • Streamlining suppliers and orders
      • Identifying what you are ordering and who you are ordering from. Could fewer suppliers deliver what you need?
      • Centralising your ordering to avoid several team members placing separate but similar ordersBuy in bulk and store more on site to reduce delivery frequency
    • Choosing cleaner / greener suppliers
      • Asking suppliers to use zero or low emission vehicles when delivering to you (ask them for their green credentials: driver efficiency training, no-idling policy, fleet upgrade policy)
      • Choosing low emission transport when arranging delivery to your customers ( cycle and cargo bike couriers are great for local deliveries and for the environment
    • Joining a neighbourhood supplier scheme, or creating one
      • Using the same suppliers as other businesses in Bayswater, so you consolidate deliveries, reduce the number of delivery vehicles on our streets and reduce costs
      • Finding out if there are any arrangements in place to share suppliers for common goods such as stationery , cleaning services and waste and recycling collections
      • Asking suppliers what discounts they would offer if a group of businesses in your area used the same supplier. Other areas have created such agreements such as the West End Buyers Club
    • Re-timing your deliveries
      • Avoiding deliveries during peak hours (07:00 to 10:00). This will help reduce air pollution from vehicles stuck in congestion and can also make deliveries more efficient- helping reduce costs which are ultimately passed on to you
      • Talking to suppliers about receiving deliveries outside of peak hours
    • Looking at how you can reduce your waste to reduce the number of waste collections
       
  3. Please add your business to the local Bayswater page that on My Virtual Neighbourhood
    We have launched a dedicated Bayswater page on the MyVirtualNeighbourhood website, where local Bayswater businesses can register their business for free.
    Please do register your business. It takes a maximum of 5 minutes.
     
  4. See if you qualify for a free Business Energy Audit for SMEs
     

   

To get involved in the Group please send us an email.

 
 
 

Westminster Business Energy Audit scheme

Westminster have announced a Business Energy Audit Scheme for SMEs in the city. The scheme will open for applications in late April and qualified experts will support up to 1,000 businesses to better understand their current emissions and make tangible changes to reduce emissions and costs.

SMEs can work across all sectors, but must meet the following criteria:

  • fewer than 250 employees
  • a turnover of less than £36m
  • a total balance sheet of less than £18m
  • be a freeholder or leaseholder with more than 3 years’ unexpired on a lease or a private tenant with a full repairing obligation
  • must be a business that is trading in Westminster

Application process

Applications will open on Friday 22 April 2022 and awarded on a first come first served basis to eligible applicants. Interested businesses should sign up to Westminster’s Business Newsletter to receive notifications on when applications open.