Actions to Take When Suffering from Wood Smoke Pollution

If you are bothered by wood smoke pollution in your neighborhood, we suggest taking the following steps:

1. Contact the polluter. Use information from this website (including the information available on the links page) to inform the polluter about the health hazards and environmental impact of wood smoke pollution. Be calm and patient, as most people are simply unaware of the dangers of wood burning and just need time to become educated.

Most people already understand the effects of exposure to second hand tobacco smoke and can come to an understanding of your situation quickly when you explain that wood smoke is even more harmful than cigarette smoke.

2. Make a complaint to the local agency responsible for enforcing air pollution violations in your area. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can file an online, confidential complaint with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

3. Contact your city council members, mayor, county supervisor, and state and national officials to let them know about the problems that are being caused by wood smoke pollution in your neighborhood. Contact newspapers and radio and television stations.