Perhaps you are considering changing your living situation. Your roommate has moved out, your family is growing, or your location isn’t working for you anymore. You will be faced with lots of choices. One concept frequently overlooked is the type of amenities you should seek.

When looking for an apartment, residents will prioritize their needs. Generally, it will be a combination of price, location, safe neighborhoods, size, quality of nearby schools, access to grocery stores and shops, amenities in the complex, and a multitude of other potential considerations.

But, when you are moving to an apartment have you ever considered something so important, that is often overlooked? The air. Yes, the quality of the air that surrounds you in your new residence may be the most important consideration you can make.

Renters many times move into their brand new, spacious apartment, looking forward to enjoying the pool or walking to the nearby stores, only to find out that smoke from next door dwellers is invading their apartment. Only then do they find that the complex where they have now signed a one- year lease, does not have a smoke-free policy prohibiting smoking.

The world has rapidly become aware that breathing clean air and reducing exposure to potentially harmful airborne elements has become critical. We do have lots of research that supports the many risks associated with second and third hand smoke and the benefits of living in a property that has a smoke-free policy.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the average American spends 93% of their life indoors. 87% of their life is indoors, then another 6% of their life in automobiles.

It becomes critical then, that during that time, you are able, to the best of your ability, breathe clean air, free from the hazards of all pollutants, including smoke.

Choosing a smoke-free residence decreases you and your family’s exposure to drifting smoke and potentially all other harmful particles, or by products it may harbor. It also reduces the potential for fires that can not only cause the tragic loss of life but financial devastation.

Imagine the smoke-free pool areas, playgrounds, picnic areas, patios, decks and clubhouse at your new apartment, if you choose a complex that has a comprehensive smoke-free policy.

If you are moving to a rental property, when you consider the amenities, consider the importance of clean air for you and your family.

Need more information on this topic? Check out our website- www.smokefree.jocogov.org