[sustran] Do Not Adapt to Air Pollution: Clean Air Asia launches Hairy Nose Campaign

[Cornie Huizenga]

Hong Kong, December 5, 2012

Seven out ten cities in Asia don’t meet the most basic World Health
Organization air quality target for particulate pollution (PM10). 800,000
out a total 1.3 million people dying prematurely each year from air
pollution are from Asia and experts agree that this number will double in
the coming years if no effective action is being taken to address urban air
pollution in Asia.

Clean Air Asia, the leading regional organization on air quality in Asia
has promoted better air quality in the region for the last 10 years and is
now launching a grass roots campaign to break through the resignation among
large groups of the population that air pollution is a fact of life that
can’t be changed. “People look at air pollution like the weather. You
complain about it but you can not solve it”, said Sophie Punte, the
Executive Director of Clean Air Asia. “We see that people start wearing
masks or buy air filters for their houses and cars, and move away from
heavily polluted areas if they can afford it, in short they are adapting to
air pollution rather than doing something about it. We see that there is
increasing political will in Asia to address air pollution but without
broad based popular support such political will can not succeed”.

The campaign was developed by BBDO Guerrero / Proximity Philippines with
creative teams from across the BBDO network, whose Chairman and Chief
Creative Officer, David Guerrero, says: “We were excited to partner with
Clean Air Asia on this issue because air pollution touches all of us every
day in our daily lives. We decided to use humor to explain to people across
the region that there is no need to feel jaded or powerless.”

The Hairy Nose campaign was launched at the three-day Better Air Quality
(BAQ) 2012 conference, organized by Clean Air Asia, the Hong Kong SAR
Environmental Protection Department and The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University, which will kick off on December 5, 2012 in Hong Kong. The
campaign which consists of a online video, a micro website where people can
check pollution levels in their city and select their own nose hair styles
will be rolled out after BAQ 2012 to a number of Asian countries where
Clean Air Asia has regional offices and networks including China, India,
Pakistan, Sri-Lanka and Vietnam

The Hairy Nose video can be seen at:www.cleanairasia.org/hairynose
The Hairy Nose Micro site can be found at:
www.cleanairasia.org/hairynose/home

PLEASE TWEET about the hairy nose campaign using #baq12 #cleanairasia and
like us athttp://www.facebook.com/BAQ.Conference
Cornie
-- 
Cornie Huizenga
Joint Convener
Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport
Mobile: +86 13901949332
cornie.huizenga at slocatpartnership.org
www.slocat.net