10 Best Cities for the Cleanest Air in the World

As a business, Miratel is very cognizant of our environmental impact and that value is reflected throughout our CSR business programs and corporate green policies. Being a Canadian call centre, we are also always interested to learn how Canada compares to other countries when it comes to the environment and other areas like best country to live, smartest countries, the happiest countries, the  most peaceful countries, the friendliest countries, the most charitable countries, the most prosperous countries, the best countries for quality of life, the best countries for business, the top countries for life expectancy, the best countries for working women, the best country for child well-being, the best countries from social progress, the best countries for higher education, the most popular countries, the least corrupt countries, the countries with the best reputation, the best countries for ease of doing business, the best countries for starting a business, the best country for business, the best country for customer satisfaction, the most gay positive country, the best countries with the most competitive economies, the best countries for entrepreneurship, the most sustainable countries, the best countries to grow old, the best country brand, the most youthful cities, the best cities to live for opportunity, the best countries for business, the most sustainable countries and the most charitable countries. Today we’ll be looking at the 10 best cities for the cleanest air in the world as published by Care2.

Care2 is a certified B Corporation (B Corp) and describes itself as being a “trusted social action network that empowers millions of people to lead a healthy, sustainable lifestyle and support socially responsible causes.” Care2 based this list on “information from the WHO (World Health Organization) and the 2013 State of the Air report from the American Lung Association (ALA), as determined by the amount of ozone and long-term and short-term particulate matter in the air.” Based on this information, the 10 best cities for cleanest air in the world are:

1. Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada – Whitehorse is the largest city in northern Canada and can thank a lower population density and strict regulations for its clean air.
   

   Image courtesy of cottfree.co

2. Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA – Strict regulations about burning wood in the open air and a large forested area help contribute to its good air quality.
3. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA – One thing that helped contribute to Honolulu’s air quality is a well-designed transit system.
4. Great Falls, Montana, USA – Residents worked to stop the construction of a 250-megawatt coal-fired power plant, which helped protect their air quality.
5. Calgary, Alberta, Canada – Part of what keeps Calgary’s air clean is their its sanitary landfill sites for screening garbage.
6. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada – Its Spring Cleaning the Capital program, where some 60,000 volunteers give their time to cleaning public areas, aids in maintaining their air quality.
7. Helsinki, Finland – Helsinki has a system to let residents know when air quality is poor and encourages them to take public transit on those days. This program helps keep citizens aware of how their actions impact the environment and therefore protects air quality.
8. Stockholm, Sweden – Stockholm keeps its air clean by having the “largest percentage of clean vehicles in Europe.”
9. Zurich, Switzerland – Zurich has a “well-developed and highly efficient public transportation system of trains, boats, buses and trams” to keep their air clean.
10. Tailinn, Estonia – Tailinn’s public transit system helps keep its air clean.

Canada and the United States were the countries most represented on the list with three cities each as this WHO map also reveals. Clean air is something that is vitally important and more cities/countries should be working hard to maintain and improve it for its citizens. For this to work individuals and businesses have to work together – much like the citizens of Ottawa – to get involved and not strictly rely on the government to make cleaner air a reality (although government in general should be doing more). Congratulations to all the Canadian cities on the list for leading by example and making clean air a priority.

Don’t forget to #Rise4Justice and demand and end to violence against females worldwide today. You can also check out our great vegan recipes if you are planning a romantic Valentines’s dinner.

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including inbound telephone fundraising, outbound telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery fundraising services, donation processing and receipting and direct mail fundraising services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all our business decisions  and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.