Community Corner

Worried About Air Quality? There's an App for That

American Lung Association releases "Breathe Smarter" PSA Campaign featuring new free air quality smartphone app.

With temperatures rising and air quality decreasing, now might be a good time to download the new State of the Air smartphone application from the American Lung Association.

Hey, it could posistively impact your health. And, it's free.

Read more about the app below. And tell us what you think of the ALA's new public service announcement campaign featuring "Alvin Grimes" in the comments.

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Here are some excerpts from the ALA-New Jersey release:

The American Lung Association has released an edgy public service advertising (PSA) campaign featuring provocative television, online and out-of-home components to encourage people to download the charity’s new State of the Air smartphone application, a valuable resource for people living with lung disease like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), people with heart disease or diabetes, as well as older adults and children. 

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The State of the Air app enables users to enter their zip code or use the geo-locator functionality to get current and next-day air quality conditions.  The app also provides levels of both ozone and particle pollution, and pushes out alerts if local air quality is code orange or worse.  Depending on the severity of the day’s air pollution, the app will provide vital health recommendations – advising that outdoor activities should be rescheduled or that people who work outdoors should limit extended or heavy exertion. 

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This air quality information is based on data made available to the public by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The American Lung Association app is available for Apple in iTunes and for Android in Google Play or at www.lung.org/stateoftheairapp

The television/online PSAs feature a fictional “air collector” named Alvin Grimes, who is incredibly passionate about his love of air.  He loves air so much he takes samples in glass jars from everywhere he visits and even from his own backyard.  Alvin’s character is meant to be quirky and endearing as evidenced by his passion for the air and all things air-related, e.g. dirigibles, sailboats, balloons, pinwheels, etc. 

“Our new PSAs are meant to be comical to capture the viewer’s attention and convey the underlying message that it is important to be aware of your air,” said Carrie Martin Munk, Vice President of Communications and Marketing for the American Lung Association.  “We hope Alvin gets people to laugh, stop and think about what they’re breathing, and then download the app so they can monitor local air quality on a daily basis.” 

Alvin has his own Facebook and Twitter accounts where he will post and tweet about air.  The television PSAs include :10, :15, :30 and :60 second formats.  There are four additional online videos that will be available on Alvin’s YouTube page that are varied in length. Find Alvin online here: facebook.com/theaircollector; twitter.com/theaircollector; youtube.com/user/theaircollector.


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