How Paris Reduced City Smog for One Day (and How You Can Reduce Air Pollution)

Paris' city smog is crazy.

Paris did a great thing a few weeks ago to combat city smog. The European city’s officials banned all cars with license plates ending in even numbers from its roads for one day (March 23, 2015). City officials made this decision to combat Paris’ insane amount of city smog.

To help ease the pain for commuters, the city made public transportation free to encourage people to get around via other means. This isn’t the first time the city has done something like this. According to the NPR article, the city took “similar measures” in 2014.

While Paris’ city smog reduction tactic is impressive, it’s rather depressing it had to make this desperate move to combat its troublesome air pollution issues.

According to the NPR article, Paris made this move because pollution had recently “spiked” in the city, as well as in northern France.

All cities are plagued with air pollution and could do the world and its inhabitants a favor if each metropolis did its part to reduce city smog. Now, we know not every city will do this, so we’ve rounded up a few suggestions to help you cut down the smog in your city. After all — each small step counts!

Walk or bike to work: A great option if you live close to the office. Also: Biking or walking every day will help you keep your weight in check, and leave you feeling energized and less stressed once you get home.

Carpool: Not everyone lives close to the office. And some cities (I’m looking at you, Kansas City, Mo.) have shameful public transit. So, when you can’t catch a train or bus, go ahead and “drive in” with co-workers.

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Image: Evan Bench

Abbie Stutzer

Writer, editor, and owner of Ginchy!, a freelance writing and editing company, and home funeral hub. Adores smart sex ed, sustainable ag, spooky history, women's health, feminism, horror, wine, and sci-fi.