Invites the world to send 10,000 straws to school-staff members and other decision makers in the #spacetobreathe initiative
With 14 % of all children suffering from the disease, asthma is one of the leading causes of school absenteeism, and a common reason for children being excluded from sports and other activities. This is both unfortunate and unnecessary. By asking 10,000 school staff members, sports coaches and decision makers to breathe through a straw, Electrolux wants to increase public awareness about the disease, and inspire the world to create asthma-friendly environments.
“With medication, better knowledge about the disease and improved indoor air quality, no child should have to stay home from school or get excluded from the community,” says Henrik Sundström, Vice President, Group Sustainability at Electrolux”. “With this initiative, we want to inspire people to take a stand and help create safe and healthy environments that don’t exclude children with asthma. Reducing asthma triggers is easy, and we can all help.”
To reach school staff members, sports coaches, librarians, politicians and other policy makers, Electrolux will send out 10 000 straws and information letters with some easy-to-follow steps for those who want to create an asthma-friendly environment. Electrolux invites the general public to decide who should get a straw.
“By asking decision makers to breath through a straw, we want to remind them about their responsibility to create asthma-friendly environments. Every child should have the space to breathe,” Henrik Sundström continues.
At electrolux.com/spacetobreathe visitors can watch a campaign video about asthma, learn how to become asthma-friendly and challenge decision makers in their community by sending them a straw.
“Electrolux offers some highly efficient vacuums and air purifiers that significantly improve the indoor air quality – but just as asthma has no single cause, there is no single solution to asthma. Cleaning is important, but this campaign presents a wide range of actions that anyone can take in order to reduce asthma triggers at home and in public environments,” Henrik Sundström says.
Visit electrolux.com/spacetobreathe to learn more and to send a straw to someone in your community.
Notes
- Asthma is one of the leading causes of school absenteeism. According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, asthma is responsible for 13 million missed school days per year
- According to the Global Asthma Report, 14 % of the world’s children suffer from asthmatic symptoms.
- According to the most recent Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, the number of people with asthma in the world may be as high as 334 million.
- The Swedish study BAMSE (conducted by Karolinska Institutet in collaboration with the Stockholm County Council) shows that a good indoor environment prevents early symptoms of asthma in children.
- With the #spacetobreathe initiative, Electrolux wants to increase public awareness about the disease and inspire the world to create asthma-friendly environments. The project was launched on June 18, 2015.
