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Tags: Pollution-Free Travel / Air Quality / Pollution / American Lung Association / → All Tags

Fresh Air Travel: Cheyenne is America's Cleanest City

Watch out LA, as the American Lung Association is out with their annual "State of the Air" list, which ranks American cities based on how polluted they are. This year, the rankings have a simple and strong message for those in search of clean travel: go out west.

You may already be familiar with Cheyenne, Wyoming from the Oregon Trail game, but this year it gains notoriety after taking the crown for least year-round particle pollution, followed by Sante Fe, Honolulu, Great Falls, MT, and Farmington, NM. Of course, we could have told you that Wyoming and Montana have some pretty clean skies. Among places we're surprised to see on the list is one-time industrial center Duluth, MN, coming in at an impressive #13.

Nobody likes hearing about the winners however, as we know that the juicy news is in who got ranked the worst for air quality. The bottom of the list is no surprise: Los Angeles takes the cake as most polluted place in the country. In fact, the state of California dominates the "worst of" section, with Bakersfield, Visalia, and Fresno rounding out the bottom four. The city that surprised us most here is NYC, which came in a not-so-awful 18th-to-last-place—pretty good for the most populous city in the country.

Related Stories:
· State of the Air [American Lung Association]
· Pollution travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Wyoming travel guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: katymcc]

Tags: Pollution / Dubai Beaches / Blue Flag / → All Tags

Dubai Beaches Improve 'One Million Percent'; Still Have a Ways To Go

We've already sworn never to swim at a beach in Dubai as long as we live (mostly because we figure if we swim through all that sewage, we might not live much longer). But we still applaud the efforts of the UAE's Wildlife Society to try to clean up the beaches.

Their strategy involves encouraging beaches near Dubai and Abu Dhabi to apply for Blue Flag status. Beaches that get awarded an official Blue Flag are certified to meet pretty strict environmental and safety conditions, and that definitely means no sewage.

If your vacation in Dubai is too soon to wait for Blue Flag status, then take heart from the words of local sailing club head Keith Mutch:

Although the water is one million percent better than it was one month ago, I estimate that this beach will take five to seven years to recover to how it was a year ago.

A million percent better? That's gotta be swimmable.

Related Stories:
· Whiff of Change for Stinking Dubai Beaches [The Age]
· Why We're Never Swimming At A Dubai Beach Again [Jaunted]
· Dubai Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: Martin O'Connell]

Tags: Pollution / Zoos / → All Tags

Toronto Zoo to Harness the Power of Poo

There are certain cities in the world that are having a bit of a problem with poop. As we pointed out last week, for example, the glimmering emirate that is Dubai lacks a viable drainage system for sewage, resulting in polluted beaches and illegally-dumped ponds of poo surrounding the city. Nasty! One would think that such a wealthy and technologically-savvy place could afford the world's most sophisticated sewer system, but if they haven't built it yet, maybe a better solution to their problems can be found at the Toronto Zoo. Zoo officials recently announced plans to build a $13 million plant that turns animal poo into clean, green, pollution-free energy that would power not only the zoo, but the surrounding community as well. The poo-to-power process is known as anaerobic digestion, and it converts animal and food waste into biogas with the use of some very helpful bacteria. With more than 5,000 poo-producing animals providing a constant flow (sorry) of fuel, officials are optimistic that the zoo can meet its goal of becoming an energy independent, carbon-neutral destination in just a few years, hopefully providing a example for other cities who are struggling to deal with environmental and energy problems. Naturally, we have to wonder if some poop is better than others for power. Is grass-fed elephant poop preferable to Dorito-fed human poop? Can they actually use teeny tiny poops from frogs, turtles, and snakes? In any case, it sounds like both the people and the animals up in Toronto are on to something.

[Photo: AP]

Related Stories:
· Toronto Zoo [official site]
· Toronto Zoo Wants to Turn Poo Into Energy [CBC News]
· Zoo's Poo Aids Push to Become Carbon Neutral [thestar.com]
· Why We're Never Swimming at a Dubai Beach Again [Jaunted]

Tags: Pollution / Dubai Travel / Beaches / Beach Travel / → All Tags

Why We’re Never Swimming At A Dubai Beach Again

Scary and stinky news out of Dubai: The beaches are full of sewage. Not something we like at the best of times but especially not if we’re indulging in a bit of risky sex on the beach.

And here’s the sad truth behind build-it-and-they’ll-come Dubai--it might have the world’s tallest buildings and biggest shopping malls, but it has no main drainage system. Waste is transported by drivers to an overcrowded site where they might have a ten-hour wait to dump their load, so some are just dumping it earlier in random ditches.

Apparently brave tourists who go driving off-road are starting to come across "lakes of excrement," so perhaps Dubai’s next world’s biggest record will be the biggest lake of, well, really unpleasant stuff.

Related Stories:
· Smelly Effluent Mars Dubai’s Affluent Beaches [news.com.au]
· In Dubai, Sex on the Beach Could Lead to Prison [Jaunted]
· Dubai Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: elvis_payne]

Tags: China Travel / Olympics / Pollution / → All Tags

Heavy Breathing Travel: Beijing Clearing the Air Again

Hey, remember China? Even though the Olympics are over, it's still there--and the air quality in Beijing is back to absolutely horrible.

To try to alleviate the pollution, the city government has reinstated restrictions on driving. Cars will only be allowed on the roads six days a week, with license plate numbers deciding who gets to drive when. Officials say the plan will keep 800,000 private vehicles off the capital's clogged streets every day.

The scheme, which began today, will be in place until at least April, and if pollution continues to worsen, the government says it may order as many as half of the city's 3.4 million cars off the road daily.

Related Stories:
· Beijing Reintroduces Car Rules [BBC]
· Our Olympics Air Quality Obsession Continues [Jaunted]

[Photo of the Pangu Plaza on August 10, 2008: xiaming]