About Us

Clean Air Council is a member- supported, non-profit environmental organization dedicated to protecting everyone's right to breathe clean air. The Council works through public education, community advocacy, and government oversight to ensure enforcement of environmental laws.

The Council was founded in 1967 by a group of forward-looking community leaders, policy makers, and progressive business leaders. Headquartered in Philadelphia, the Council made a name for itself by the mid-1970s as the result of two major achievements: establishing and distributing a daily regional air quality index report (still used to this day); and forcing Pennsylvania to implement its vehicle emissions testing program. The Council has now grown to include 8,000 members and expanded its programmatic focus to include children’s environmental health, energy, climate change, waste and recycling, and transportation. The Council has also established an indoor air quality resource center for the public and holds the Philadelphia area’s largest Earth Day event, the Annual 5k Run for Clean Air.

Learn more about the Council's history here!

5K Run for Clean Air

Over the past three decades, The 5K Run for Clean Air has grown into Philadelphia’s largest Earth Day Celebration, a certified green run, and much more. Located on the beautiful banks of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, the 5K Run for Clean Air is a community effort to decrease the air pollution that triggers asthma and other respiratory problems in our families, as well as support programs that reduce waste in favor of increased recycling and composting and slow down global warming.

The 5K Run for Clean Air is Philadelphia’s premier green run, an environmentally responsible event certified by Athlete’s For a Fit Planet. Last year the Council implemented a series of sustainable practices so that participants could enjoy a sense of accomplishment, not only from finishing, but from being environmentally conscious– something no other run in the area offers. Paperless registration eliminated the printing and mailing of over 25,000 Run brochures. Runners were urged to take public transportation, walk, or bike (bicycle valet provided!). All of the Run’s trash was either composted or recycled!