addresspollution.org

Background

Today, every Londoner is breathing toxic air.

This leads to 10,000 premature deaths every year. How do you get Londoners, who underestimate how safe they actually are, to realise that air pollution is a public health crisis? By making it personal and ensuring this invisible killer is impossible to ignore, making people aware of how bad the problem was in their own backyard.

Idea

addresspollution.org gave everyone in Greater London a free Air Quality Report for their address. Consisting of an annualised reading of nitrogen dioxide, it made it clear if a home exceeded the Worth Health Organization’s legal limits for clean air. The rating system was developed with scientists at King’s College London, who also provided air quality data that is accurate down to 20 square metres.

Based on its rating, the air quality report gave details of the health and financial costs for that address.

In just a few clicks, visitors could then demand localised action from their council and local MP.

To launch the campaign, air quality ratings were projected onto homes around London.

Wealthy areas with high ratings such as Chelsea and Westminster were also targeted with OOH. DOOH showed the damage air pollution causes to organs and a DM campaign was sent to estate agents.

Results

So far, 119,000 Londoners have checked their ratings. Thousands of people have signed local petitions.

The campaign has had over 80 pieces of coverage across national news and consumer publications with a potential reach of 30 million.

The National Association of Estate Agents is now implementing air quality ratings into Property Information Questionnaires and there are moves to introduce legislation that would make it mandatory to publish air quality ratings for every address.

Our Thoughts

The outdoor projections would have been very impactful to all who saw them, illuminating, literally, the high levels of pollution in specific areas. But I can’t help thinking that the sub-campaign, addressing estate agents specifically, won’t be of greater long-term effect? Many of their customers are already looking at pollution levels before they buy a new home so addresspollution is giving them the means to transparency, which is a foundation of trust.

Do please have a look at pages 80-81 and E.ON’s approach to the same problem of dangerous air quality in London.