The Friends of Solana Beach Library will present a free “Clean Air Fair” on October 3, bringing exhibitors, a live band and a community bike ride to the library grounds at 157 Stevens Ave. in Solana Beach. The event, running from 11 a.m., is designed to connect everyday choices around transit, food waste and home energy use to broader efforts at cleaning up the region's air.
The fair is part of a larger effort tied to the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. The United Nations General Assembly adopted the observance in 2020, with the first global recognition following in September 2020, according to the UN Environment Programme. This year's theme, per the newspaper's report, is “Clean Air, Healthy Choices: Acting Together for People and Planet,” and the observance aims to raise worldwide awareness by exchanging best practices among governments, cities, businesses, scientists and civil society.
Friends of Solana Beach Library is collaborating with Bike/Walk Solana on the event, the Union-Tribune reports. The active transportation group's bicycle ride to the library will include a prize for participants, part of the fair's push to highlight individual and collective actions — including transit choices, cutting food waste and family energy decisions — that influence air quality. Bike/Walk Solana was co-founded by local cycling advocate Karl Rudnick, who has advocated for bicycling and pedestrian safety in the city.
Exhibitors and Live Music Round Out the Day
The fair will showcase the Lund-Cohen Band and feature family fun activities alongside a lineup of exhibitors, per the same report. Confirmed groups include the San Elijo Lagoon, Seaweeders Solana Beach Garden Club, Solana Beach Eco-Rotary Club, Solana Beach Free Farmers Market, Solana Center, the city of Solana Beach, EDCO Solana Beach, Girl Scouts, GoGreenish, Nature Collective, Wildlife Jewels and other local organizations. Exhibitors will explain how they provide cleaner environmental and air options and will showcase conservation best practices and energy-saving technologies.
In a news release cited by the Union-Tribune, Friends of Solana Beach Library said it is grateful for support from the San Diego County Library system and the Solana Beach Library branch. More information on the fair is available at friendsofsolanabeachlibrary.org/events.
A City With a History of Environmental Firsts
The gathering lands in a city that has repeatedly positioned itself ahead of the curve on environmental policy. Solana Beach was the first municipality in San Diego County to enact local bans on single-use plastic bags and polystyrene foam containers, according to the Clean Energy Alliance. In 2018, the city also launched the Solana Energy Alliance, the county's first Community Choice Aggregation program, before joining neighboring coastal cities to form the Clean Energy Alliance.
Those efforts feed into an updated Climate Action Plan the Solana Beach City Council adopted in October 2024, targeting a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions below 2016 levels by 2035 and an 85% reduction by 2045, as reported by The Coast News. On-road transportation was identified as the city's single largest emissions source, accounting for 64% of the total. The plan also includes expanding native, drought-tolerant urban tree canopy cover to absorb air pollutants and mitigate urban heat islands.
Why Clean Air Advocacy Resonates Locally
The push for cleaner air carries added weight given the region's pollution record. The San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad metro area ranked 5th worst in the nation for annual particle pollution and 7th worst for ground-level ozone in the American Lung Association's April 2026 “State of the Air” report, according to KPBS. Motor vehicle tailpipe emissions contribute to ozone-forming pollution in the region, underscoring why the fair's bike ride and transit-focused messaging matter to organizers.
The stakes extend well beyond the county line. Measures involving transportation and energy can improve air quality while reducing emissions — the same broad categories the Solana Beach fair is built around on a neighborhood scale.
The Library's Role as a Community Hub
The venue itself carries civic significance beyond hosting the fair. Beyond programming, libraries like this one serve as free, temporary cooling centers where people can congregate, socialize and beat the heat during advisories — a civic function that dovetails with the Clean Air Fair's broader message about community resilience and environmental stewardship.
