No
Idling Campaign
No Idling at School Report - May 2002
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Greenest City's Active & Safe Routes to School program, operating out of Ontario, Canada, has produced a resource for schools that encourages driving parents to turn off their engines while waiting for their children. With the accumulation of vehicles around many schools at drop-off and pick-up times, air quality in the school zone can be negatively impacted if these vehicles keep their engines running while waiting. Greenest City has produced a No Idling at School resource kit, that includes background information, suggested activities to promote no idling, posters, information cards and stickers. A few facts about engine idling:
Why do so many drivers keep their engines running while they are stopped_ Recent market research found the following most common reasons are warming up the car, waiting for someone and doing errands. Other reasons, reported by drivers, for leaving their engines running included personal comfort, listening to the radio, parking illegally and convenience. Many drivers also mistakenly believe that turning off their engines for a short stop is more harmful to their car than leaving the engine running. In fact, an idling engine wastes fuel to the tune of 3.5 litres per hour. 10 seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting the engine! And if it's wasting fuel then it's also wasting money, over $60 (Cdn) per year per vehicle. It contributes to reduced quality of our air because an idling engine produces twice as many exhaust emissions as an engine in motion. Idling also contributes to global climate change through the production of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, which is emitted by gasoline and diesel powered engines. And finally, it is harmful to engines. An idling engine is not operating at its peak temperature, which means fuel combustion is incomplete. Soot deposits can accumulate on cylinder walls leading to oil contamination and damaged components. Idling, while warming an engine, does not warm the wheel bearings, steering, transmission and tires--only driving does this. Need any more reasons to promote No Idling at School in your area_ Help clean the air. No Idling Media Advisory: Apr 01
Greenest City and the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) invite you to attend the launch of the No Idling at School Ontario campaign. Click here to view. New Resources: April 2001
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**These files are in MS Word format, and can be read by most word processors.
- Media
Backgrounders.doc**:
Background information - Activities
Sheet.pdf*:
Suggested activities for No Idling at School projects. - BackGround
Sheet.pdf*:
A few facts about engine idling - Commitment
Intervention.pdf*:
A form to track participation of drivers - Observation
Form.pdf*:
A form that can be used to observe and track idling vehicles - No
Idling Toolkit-Newsltr Inserts.doc**:
Two sample inserts for school newsletters - No
Idling Toolkit-Ideas from Schools.doc**:
Descriptions of how two schools have promoted No Idling at School - Information Cards (French* and English*)
- No
Idling Sticker*
"I think parents are concerned about heavy traffic and issues like child abductions.
They see their vehicles as safe, but our school is trying to communicate that there are other ways
to be safe, much healthier and environmentally friendly at the same time."
Kathy Cowan, Principal, Bowmore Public School