Gumby and Pokey Help Fight Air Pollution
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View Video PSA: Gumby and Pokey: Air Pollution: It's about Your Health English | Español |
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Cartoon characters Gumby and Pokey are serious clean air advocates. They are helping the American Lung Association with a public information campaign in California, which focuses on the health effects of polluted air and ways everyone can make a difference in the fight against air pollution. The campaign, in English and Spanish, was launched during the organization's Clean Air Month in May.
Gumby and Pokey star in a television public service announcement, posters, ads, and T-shirts, which all convey the message that air pollution is a health issue. The campaign is funded by a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency and made possible through the generosity of the characters' creator Art Clokey, who allowed Gumby and Pokey to be used for the campaign at no cost, and others who donated their time and energy.
"Gumby has always stood for clean air and clean living," Clokey said.
California still has the dirtiest air in the nation, putting the health of thousands of Californians at risk. While air pollution is a serious health issue, the Gumby and Pokey characters offer a fun and lighthearted way to reach Californians of all ages with the American Lung Association's clean air message.
The 30-second public service announcement features Gumby and Pokey pushing their heads into a book titled "How Did We Get Here?" Inside the book they see clouds of air pollution caused by vehicle exhaust. Gumby then proclaims, "There are too many people driving in that book to be good for your health." The posters, T-shirts and ads read, "Air Pollution. It's About Your Health."
Ground-level ozone and other air pollutants are major contributors to asthma and other lung diseases. Ozone causes up to 10 percent of emergency room and hospital admissions in people with respiratory ailments in California.
"Ozone air pollution can cause chemical burns on lung tissue and decreases in lung function," said lung association volunteer John Balmes, MD, division chief of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital. "This pollutant can cause shortness of breath, chest pain, wheezing and coughing, even in otherwise healthy people."
Motor vehicle exhaust continues to be a major source of ground-level ozone and other air pollutants. The American Lung Association encourages every Californian to reduce their dependency on gasoline- and diesel-powered engines, and find alternatives to driving whenever possible. Biking, taking mass transit, and driving electric cars and other alternatively fueled vehicles are important steps in the fight against air pollution. Proper motor vehicle maintenance and smog controls are also part of the clean air solution.
Companies, schools, and other organizations can significantly help in the fight against air pollution by encouraging carpooling, holding teleconferences instead of meetings, allowing employees to telecommute, establishing incentives for using alternative forms of transportation, and offering incentives for purchasing vehicles powered by low-pollution alternatives such as compressed natural gas and fuel cells.
To help focus attention on biking as a transportation alternative, the American Lung Association of California continues to be a major sponsor of the California Bike Commute, a statewide bike-to-work event held in conjunction with the California Bicycle Coalition. The California Bike Commute encourages commuters to try this zero-pollution form of transportation and focuses public attention on the need for more bike-friendly public policies.
Every year in May, the American Lung Association celebrates its Clean Air Month because May marks the beginning of the heaviest smog season in California.
To order free posters, or for more information, call your local American Lung Association at 1-800-LUNG- USA.
Gumby and Pokey: Air Pollution: It's about Your Health
English | Español
Created by:
Chris Johnston, Blacktop Films
Tom Gasek and Byars Cole, Suspended Animation
Special Thanks to: Art Clokey
