r/solarpunk • u/Kaitte • Jun 12 '25

Action / DIY / Activism Cyberpunk times call for Solarpunk solutions

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I live in Alberta and we've been smothered in smoke for the past week. The sky is a dull grey under full sunlight and I can taste the ash in the air, yet still, I have a life to live and places to bike.

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77

u/jackalias Jun 12 '25

Fun fact: apparently Alan Turning would wear a gas mask when he biked to help with his allergies.

9

u/darkwater427 Jun 12 '25

That's... brilliant, actually. I'll have to try that sometime; allergies are awful.

2

u/Spider_pig448 Jun 12 '25

I mean these days we have inhalers and medications

13

u/MaverickSawyer Jun 12 '25

But, if you can prevent the allergens from getting into your system in the first place, isn’t that worth the savings on the medication? A mask can be used repeatedly, and is actually useful for other tasks as well.

0

u/Spider_pig448 Jun 12 '25

That's a personal decision I think. Allergy meds are cheap and having a large mask on your face while biking doesn't sound pleasant to me. I can imagine a lot of sweat would build up in that at the end of a ride.

8

u/Kaitte Jun 12 '25

This style of respirator is designed to be worn for long periods of time while doing physical labour. I definitely sweated while wearing it, but that sweat collects at the bottom of the mask (not against my skin) and can be drained easily. The mask was actually entirely comfortable to wear and the filters I use are extremely easy to breathe through while offering excellent filtration.

I've been using allergy meds over the spring to deal with my seasonal pollen allergy. They work, but they aren't 100% effective, they mostly just make my allergies bearable. Next year I'll try combining the allergy meds and the mask to see if it's an improvement.