Today, Thursday January 12th is the fourteenth Spare the Air day of the Winter Season. By now, you've gotten the gist of what that means: the air is cold and lung-clogging, phlegm-inducing particulates are closer to the ground where they will surely give you cancer or maybe just make you sneeze or something. Anyway we don't need any more particulates (or phlegm for that matter), so let's just all remember not to burning anything today. more ›

Sure, temporary holiday arborists can send their dry and withering Christmas trees to the wood chipper starting this week. But why put DPW and Recology through all that trouble for just a tiny bit of biofuel material, when you could instead send it all up in a furious ball of atmosphere-choking pine particulates? Which is exactly what one group of Burning Man types and other assorted pyromaniacs plans to do this Sunday at Ocean Beach. more ›

If you woke up to 2012 with your mouth tasting like an ashtray, as we're sure many of you did, you can take some solace in knowing it wasn't entirely due to overconsumption of cheap champagne and Parliament lights. The rare air in the Bay Area is literally clogged with the soot of a smoldering 2011. While we dig the idea of saying goodbye to the old year with a blazing Viking funeral it's not exactly making it easy to breathe around here. more ›

The only thing that's been more out of control than the number of Spare the Air days this season is the actual amount of nasty particulate matter floating about in all that cool wintry air we oxygen-dependent lifeforms are expected to breathe. So, perhaps it shouldn't come as any big surprise that a couple hundred of you air quality conscious Bay Areans ratted out your wood-burning neighbors over Christmas and Christmas Eve this year. more ›

Sorry, folks: tomorrow, December 24th has been declared yet another winter Spare the Air Alert by the air quality misers at the BAAQMD. By now, you ought to know the drill: no solid fuel burning, no store-bought Duraflame logs, no building a super-flammable bonfire out of excess wrapping paper — none of that is allowed tomorrow in the greater Bay Area. more ›

Another windless December day means another Winter Spare the Air Alert declared for today, Wednesday the 21st. That brings our tally to eight days without solid fuel burning this season, and as we inch closer to the Yule Time tradition of burning a fat log all afternoon, the forecast calls for stagnant conditions to last well into Christmas weekend. more ›

Thanks to a "stubborn weather pattern", the Bay Area Air Quality Management District has declared today, Monday December 19th, as the seventh Spare the Air day of the winter season. Seven days without wood burning is a new record for the BAAQMD, and we have this recent windless spat of cold air to blame. more ›

Tomorrow is another winter Spare the Air day, according to the folks in charge of that sort of thing. Which means day two of not burning old furniture and duraflame logs to keep warm as local temperatures threaten to dip below the bone-chilling temperature of 50º tonight and tomorrow night. We realize it's gonna be tough, but do it for the environment, alright? And hopefully those blustery winter winds come back to clear the air soon enough. more ›

As we warned this morning, the current chill to the air is leading to particularly particulate-heavy breathing conditions around the Bay Area. And apparently conditions didn't get any breezier today, thus: the Air Quality Management District has declared tomorrow, Wednesday December 7th to be a Winter Spare the Air Day. Meaning Bay Areans are expressly forbidden from heating their homes by burning actual dead trees, duraflame logs or any other solid fuel. more ›

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District, also known as the Spare the Air folks, are asking Bay Area residents, the ones with fireplaces anyway, to please refrain from burning wood today, Tuesday December 6th. We know it's cold and all, but the breezeless chill means wood smoke stays near the ground and every time you spark up a yule log, you're basically making all your neighbors walk through a forest fire. That's how pollution works. more ›

Yesterday while most of us were sweating it out on public transit on a particularly warm Spare the Air day, a San Francisco Shell gas station was giving away full tanks of gas to some 240 motorists in the Mission. Thanks to the unfortunate confluence of Shell's marketing machine and yesterday's breezeless day, the two events collided to give the Examiner a story on possible corporate misbehavior. more ›

Today's supposed to be disgustingly hot, so the Bay Area Air Quality Management District called for another Spare the Air day. Which is to say: stay away from your car if you can help it, ride a bike, reduce household energy use,no barbecues, avoid using Aqua-net, and spray paints, and don't light shit on fire. Temperatures should reach a scorching 75 in San Francisco. more ›

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has issued the a Spare the Air Smog Alert for tomorrow, Wednesday, September 7. While no free-transit magic will happen tomorrow -- or, quite possibly, ever again -- the Air District urges residents to drive less and reduce their energy use in an effort to lower pollutions levels while temperatures rise. more ›

Since temperatures have soared past the billion-degree mark (88 degrees, technically), a Spare the Air Day alert will be in effect for Tuesday. It wil be the first of the season. Second verse, same as the first: you're asked to curb your driving, take public transportation if possible, shun gas-powered garden tools, and cook indoors rather than grill outside. And while it's not a Spare the Air Day recommendation, we suggest making Anne Burrell's Chilled Asparagus Soup with Goat Cheese. (Can you think of any other no-oven/no-cooking recipes? We'd sure love to hear them.) [via Chron] more ›

Stubborn big-government naysayers, listen up: when Spare the Air says do not burn Duraflame logs, the mean do not burn Duraflame logs. Take, for example, Mike, a reader from San Carlos, who sent us the following letter about getting busted from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District after lighting a Duraflame on Christmas. more ›

One of those rare winter Spare the Air days is here, folks. Which is to say, "Bay Area air quality officials have issued a Winter Spare the Air alert, which bans burning wood, manufactured firelogs, or any other solid fuel both indoors and outdoors." First offense will get you a warning, second one lands you $400 fine. Okay? Okay. [SF Appeal] more ›

While the weather forecast "isn't calling for conditions that could trap smoke near the ground and result in unhealthy breathing conditions, " Bay Area Air Quality Management District is "making a pre-emptive strike" by requesting that you not burn wood over the holiday weekend. more ›

Due to the dry and glacial weather brought to you this winter season by La Niña, a Spare the Air Day has been called for today, Wednesday, Dec. 1. This means you're barred from lighting wood fires in your fireplaces, "using fire logs, chimineas or outdoor fire pits," and lighting your toes on fire with a Bic (which sounds so good right now since our feet are freezing.) [SFGate] more ›

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has issued a Spare the Air Day today because it's going to be hot. Very hot. Hot for San Francisco, anyway. AP reports, "On Monday the Bay Area is expected to be mostly sunny with Coastal highs in the 70s to lower 80s and inland temperatures in the lower to mid 90s." more ›

Today's warm weather prompted another Spare the Air Day. This means no wood fire, public transit, and other clean air such as, according to BCN (via CBS 5), biking to work or around town, working at home or telecommuting, stringing together errands for fewer driving trips, and cooking indoors rather than on outdoor grills or barbecues." more ›

Put that firewood away (although there is no wood-burning ban in place), Monday is the first official Spare-The-Air Day of the season. Now that the warmer weather is upon us -- highs on the coast will be in the 70s/80s and inland in the upper 80s to near 100, we can expect some unhealthy smog in our midst. more ›

The grumpy Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued a "Spare the Air" alert today, the fourth one of the year! "The advisory prohibits indoor and outdoor burning of wood, manufactured logs or any other solid fuel, meaning it is illegal for Bay Area residents and businesses to use their fireplaces, woodstoves and inserts, pellet stoves, outdoor fire pits or any other wood-burning devices," shuns the air people. So, you know, don't do stuff like this today. [via Examiner] more ›

Noting that today's warm weather throughout most of the Bay Area is simply unbearable, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District has declared today a Spare the Air Day. "Hot temperatures and light winds are expected to produce unhealthy air throughout the region, so the district is encouraging commuters to drive less, take public transit, walk, bike, carpool, link necessary trips and postpone errands, if possible," reports CBS 5. And, as always, there will be NO free transit. (Alas.) more ›

Today, August 10th, is a 'Spare the Air' day in the Bay Area due to the ugly, intense heat we're experiencing. While 'Spare the Air' days used to mean a free day of BART and Muni transit, that is no longer the case. Instead, you are now urged to carpool, take public transit, bike or walk to work (or wherever) help to reduce smog pollution. Today will be the hottest day this week -- it should get up to 100-degrees inland! -- with very slight cooling expected to come our starting tomorrow. more ›

Due to today's arguably miserable weather -- 88 degrees in downtown SF as of 2 p.m.! 92 degrees at Mineta San Jose International Airport! SFist Editor's Caramello liquefied beyond recognition! -- today's Spare the Air Day has been extended until Tuesday. That is to say, you should take public transit in lieu of driving, turn up the air conditioner if you're harboring infants or the elderly in your home or office, "avoid using gas-powered lawn movers and leaf blowers," cook indoors and not on a barbecue (AKA "grilling" to you foodies); and keep the Aqua Net to a minimum. Public transit, we should point out, is no longer free on Spare the Air Day. Alas. more ›

Concerned about your right to feel toasty, Duraflame has filed a lawsuit against the Bay Area Air Quality Management District for their 'Spare the Air' days, which bans the burning combustible materials (i.e., Duraflame logs) on days brimming with notably unhealthy air. The lawsuit claims that the air quality district failed to prove the region's need to limit the use of their logs. Duraflame spokesman Chris Caron said, "The district has failed to follow procedures to define why fire logs should be included in the solid fuel wood category with firewood, and nor did they make an adequate attempt to quantify the effectiveness of the new control measures." We can't imagine this lawsuit will help the company in any way whatsoever, other than making them look like a greedy and anti-green company. But there you have it. Eight 'Spare the Air' days have been called since the winter season started. more ›

Resident in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, southern Sonoma and southwestern Solano counties are forbidden -- forbidden! -- to burn wood or fire logs in fireplaces, wood stoves, outdoor stoves or any other type of fire receptacle. Today's winter 'Spare the Air Day' goes from noon today through noon Friday. In other news, it's 1,000 degrees outside today. more ›

Yum! Did you smell something nasty in downtown SF yesterday? Some people described it like raw sewage, and others like rotting meat. Turns out it was from the sewage holding system, which was ripening in the sun faster than it was getting flushed into the system. more ›

So the Chronicle says not that many people took advantage of free public transportation today for the first Spare The Air day of the season, but the BART train we were on was certainly pretty crowded. We love Spare The Air days, where all of a sudden the kids that everyone always says they never see in San Francisco materialize out of nowhere and ride the rails all day. (Or for today, until 1 p.m., when the BART gates slam shut.) We almost asked a group of giggling youth on the platform "shouldn't you be in school?" but didn't want to go all Principal Ed Rooney from Ferris Bueller's Day Off on them. Watch out for Ferraris falling from garages later today! more ›

A warm spell is rolling into the Bay Area -- so it's time for our perennial post complaining about how much we haaaaaaate it when it's hot. Bring back the fog! Bring back the fog! more ›