keeping it clean: summer edition

 Years, ago, I wrote an article about how hard it was to keep my kids' bedroom cool in the summer when we had to shut the windows...their bedroom at the time was near a bus stop. Folks leaving nearby bars and waiting for the bus on a summer evening would smoke cigarettes, talk and sing, and even smoke pot.  They didn't look up 20 feet to see the open bedroom windows, and of course, it was always after kids go to bed.  This was one of a series of articles I wrote about air quality and pollution.  Nothing has improved in Winnipeg in the past few years, either.  I suspect lawmakers do not live near the density corridors and probably have air conditioning, too.

What I found is that if you have air conditioning, live in a quieter residential neighbourhood, or have no health challenges (like asthma) to begin with, nobody thinks much or cares about these things.  I can certainly tell the difference now that we have moved to a quieter neighbourhood away from a major road, patios and restaurants.

Then the wildfires happened this year, and the smoke spread farther than usual.  Suddenly people in the US and all across Canada suffered from wildfires the way we do, every summer.  Sandwiched between western fires in Alberta and Saskatchewan and the fires in Ontario and Quebec, Manitoba gets wildfire smoke every summer.  Of course, we also have wildfires in our province, too. Air quality issues are part of the summer experience in Manitoba.

When I wrote those articles, I got an email out of the blue from someone offering me an air purifier for free.  I was shocked- in those days, if I got a freebie, it might be a skein of yarn! However, they said they felt bad about our predicament and offered this to help us keep our kids' bedroom air safer at night.

Well, this was in 2018.  Five years later, this thing is still running all the time in my kids' room, in a new house, and has made such a big difference when coping with wildfire smoke and allergens.  After all this time, the person who sent me this as a marketing intern has moved on, I'm sure...but this was a gift that made a big difference, so I'm passing along the information.

This is the model that I think I was sent. I can recommend Honeywell purifiers. It's done a marvelous job of helping us breathe through challenging air conditions. 

Note: If you click on this image, it'll take you to Amazon.  I think 5 years is enough of a trial period, I recommend this.  If you're struggling with smoke this summer, this might be worth a try.