Preserving Arkansans' lung health is a goal of the annual Ditch the Keys Week, so it's not excessively weird that this year's key-ditching schedule coincides with a bike tour led by the history-conscious Preserve Arkansas.
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May is National Preservation Month and Arkansas Heritage Month as well as National Bike Month.
But Ditch the Keys is about ozone awareness.
Held every May, the one-week key-ditching campaign encourages central Arkansas residents to start thinking early about ways to reduce the amount of ground-level ozone that will be generated in high summer when air-borne pollutants heat up on sweltering, stifling days.
The concept is familiar: Central Arkansas residents can sign up on a website, ditchthekeys.org, for a digital coupon good for discounts or free deals at some restaurants and retail stores. In exchange, participants promise to do one or more of the ozone-preventing activities suggested between Friday and May 26:
• Friday: Bike to Work Day. Ride your bike alone or join one of Bicycle Advocacy for Central Arkansas' convoys to a press conference at the Old State House in downtown Little Rock (see map).
• Saturday: Bike to Play Day.
• Sunday: Car-Free Sunday.
• Monday, May 22: Carpool to School or Work Day.
• May 23: Walk to School or Work Day.
• May 24: Make A Difference Day. This day highlights "small acts" such as walking to lunch, biking to the gym, carpooling to the grocery store, using an electric lawnmower or refueling your car before the day heats up, so fewer vapors escape from the tank.
• May 25: Telecommute to Work Day.
• May 26: Ride Transit for Free Day, sponsored by Rock Region Metro.
BIKE TO WORK CONVOYS
The Ditch the Keys website includes a list of meeting places where bicycle riders can join Bike to Work groups early Friday morning. Flooding on the North Little Rock side of the River Trail is a concern every May; convoy leaders say they could revise their planned routes if that trail's impassable.
North Little Rock:
• Diane Barton will meet riders at 7 a.m. at Park Hill Baptist Church, 201 E. C Ave. dhbarton@garverusa.com, (501) 517-4184.
• Susan Linck will meet riders at 6:30 a.m. at Garver, 4701 Northshore Drive. susanlinck@gmail.com, (501) 231-6680.
Little Rock:
• Jon Flaxman will leave the cabin at the University of Arkansas property in Cammack Village at 6 a.m. jflaxman@uaex.edu, (501) 650-0214.
• Scott Stafford will leave the Little Rock foot of the Big Dam Bridge at 6:15 a.m.. lstafford95@gmail.com, (501) 580-2198.
• Jim Britt will leave the southwestern parking lot at John Barrow Road and Markham Street at 6:15 a.m. jobritt@sbcglobal.net, (501) 912-1449.
• A leaderless group will depart from the Two Rivers Park restrooms at 6 a.m.
• Scott Massanelli will leave the US Pizza Heights restaurant, 5524 Kavanaugh Blvd., at 6:50 a.m. smassanelli@littlerock.gov, (501) 920-6708.
• John Landosky will leave the Spokes parking lot on the northwestern corner of Kavanaugh Boulevard and Markham Street at 7 a.m. jlandosky@littlerock.gov, (269) 370-1019.
WHAT'S OZONE?
Ozone is a gas created naturally when oxygen molecules rearrange themselves, but excessive amounts of it are harmful to people and animals. When volatile chemicals from vehicle exhaust, solvents and industrial emissions combine with still, hot air, more ozone forms. According to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, short-term exposure to ozone-heavy air can cause eye and throat irritation and difficulty breathing. Long-term exposure is linked to cancer and chronic neurological, reproductive and respiratory conditions.
Such air pollution affects everyone, but it takes less exposure to harm children and elderly people, according to the state department's ozone information website (bit.ly/2r4rWEH).
The website includes a "Commuter Calculator" you can use to figure out how much money you could save by using transportation other than a personal car one or more days a week.
ActiveStyle on 05/15/2017