Overnight on Sunday/Monday this week a thousand posters popped up around London and other parts of the country, encouraging people to ditch the car and walk, scoot or cycle instead when schools resume in September.
The posters had been sent out in secret to supporters by the clean air campaign group Mums for Lungs, which was established in 2017 when a group of parents walking around South London with small babies became aware of the toxic levels of air pollution on London’s streets.
As well as encouraging parents to use cleaner ways of travelling to and from school, Mums for Lungs are asking the government to help encourage this shift by implementing further road closures, pop-up cycle lanes and other measures that will help families move away from their polluting vehicles.
Jane Dutton from Mums for Lungs said: ‘Half of the air pollution in London is from traffic, and air pollution is severely and irreversibly damaging children’s health.
‘We have suggested to government that they run a public health campaign many times – as they are not doing it, we are trying our best to help people realise the way they travel has an impact.
‘Now, more than ever, with possible links between air pollution and Covid-19 transmission, we all need to make sure our travel choices are as non-polluting as possible.’
Click on the images below to download the posters
