Romantic: Candlelit dinners, mushy cards, and couples massages.

Not romantic: Hacking up a lung, asthma triggers, and the smell of rotten eggs wafting through the night air.

Sad but true (and decidedly unromantic): Love isn’t the only thing in the air this Valentine’s Day. Pittsburgh has long been plagued by poor air quality, an issue GASP has been working to improve for more than 50 years.

This Valentine’s Day, why not think outside the heart-shaped box and get your sweetie something that won’t wilt like those overpriced red roses: The gift of a GASP membership.

Hear us out: Every year, nearly a billion Valentines are sent and more than 36 million boxes of chocolates are purchased. As for roses? More than 110 million will be wrapped in plastic and sent along to their recipients.

All that adds up to a tremendous amount of waste.

So why not buck the Valentine’s Day trend and avoid adding to the garbage pile by joining the burgeoning Clean Air Movement in the ‘Burgh. The gift of GASP is, in a way, the gift of hope, the gift of progress—a gift from the heart that gives a little love to your Valentine’s lungs.

Single? All the more reason to help yourself to a GASP membership. Seriously: A recent survey from the dating site Zoosk revealed that a whopping 78 percent of singles were looking for a date who cares about the environment. Of those folks, 33 percent said environmental consciousness is very important to them.

Convinced? You can purchase a membership online, or call our office manager, Kathy Lawson, at 412-924-0604 x204 to pay over the phone. Questions or concerns? Just email us at info@gasp-pgh.org.

What You Need to Know About the Community Trust Established by the U.S. Steel, ACHD Emissions Settlement
 

The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) on Monday made public its finalized settlement agreement with U.S. Steel, giving residents the first look at details of an associated $2.46 million community trust.

The nine-page document, dated Jan. 30, clarifies several details related to the trust, the communities it benefits, who will serve on a board overseeing it, and how meetings will be conducted and projects selected for funding.

GASP in July submitted formal comments regarding the settlement agreement, suggesting specifically that the health department put the details related to the trust out for public comment. In a comment response document released Monday, the health department responded to that request, saying only: “Putting up the trust form to public comment is neither legally necessary nor efficient.”

GASP also offered comments suggesting that the agreement specify who would administer the trust and advocated for the trust board to include a representative from each of the adjacent communities. While these details were not included in the original draft, they were incorporated into the final agreement.

Now that the details of the trust have been made public, here are some key takeaways.

Join GASP for the Register to Walk Challenge Through Feb. 29—You Could Win a Prize
 

Come walk with us! Registration is now officially open for the 2020 Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community. GASP will be one of more than 250 health and human services organizations participating in the 18th annual event slated for May 9 at Heinz Field—and we’d LOVE IT if you joined our team as part of the Register to Walk Challenge.

Money raised through the walk will go toward our mission: To help improve regional air quality through a mix of policy advocacy, education, watchdog work, and—when necessary—litigation.

Here’s how it works: You register yourself as a walker for GASP on the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community website anytime between now and Feb. 29 and you’ll be entered into a contest to win your choice of a pair of Kenneth Cole or Timberland sunglasses. Three winners will be chosen. It will be the first of several opportunities for participants to win prizes, so stay tuned!

It’s that easy!

While we’re talking about walking: Event organizers are seeking input on the look of the 2020 Highmark Walk T-shirt. Specifically, they are asking for folks to weigh in on what color the garment should be. Cast your vote by heading over to the Highmark Walk website or its Facebook page.

Have questions or concerns? We’re here to help! Just drop us a line at Chelsea@gasp-pgh.org.

Air Quality In the News: 4 Must-Read Stories from This Past Week
 

Get caught up with all the air quality news you might have missed this past week:

1. Stricter Air Quality Standards Could Save Thousands of Lives, Study Shows, published by UPI
2. Air Pollution has Major Impact on Children in Sports, Study Warns, published by The Guardian
3. Planting Trees Won't Save the World, published by the New York Times
4. What’s in the Air—World Urban Forum 2020 Launches World’s Largest Real-Time Air Quality Databank, published by the U.N. Environment Program