Before we started Lost Heat, before we thought of making a website or canvassing shopkeepers, there was another website and initiative about which we knew nothing.
It was only on 28 November this year that I noticed a sign on the door of a shop in the middle of Cambridge. That led me to their website at Close The Door. It is now ‘resting’ as they describe it. Their aims are the same as ours – to cut down on energy usage that is being expended meaninglessly. They also argue that keeping shop doors closed keeps noxious fumes out of shops and this quote from their website is powerful.
Dr Ben Barratt of King’s College London / MRC-PHE Centre for Environment & Health says:
“In many of the UK’s towns and cities we still face levels of air pollution that carry serious health risks, both in the short and long term. Work carried out by King’s College London and Imperial College London in shops on Regent Street showed a clear one third drop in PM2.5 and black carbon particulates simply by closing the door during working hours. NO2 was similarly cut. Closing the shop doors facing polluted streets affords a significant reduction in risk not only to customers, but also to staff who have to work in the space all day. It is simple common sense.
While we work on resolving the wider issue of air pollution, it is important that people at most risk are made aware, and that simple measures to reduce their exposure are made available to them. This may be by taking a less polluted travel route, ventilating houses near busy roads by opening windows only at the back, or closing the shop door on to busy streets”