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Have you ever left your car engine running while you waited to pick up your children, or while you waited in the drive-thru line at your bank or a favorite fast-food restaurant? Have you sometimes let your engine idle for several minutes to warm up your car first thing in the morning? Most of us have. But when you leave your car or truck running while it's parked or sitting still, the engine produces air pollution. This pollution contributes to problems like smog and global warming, as well as being harmful to health.
A great deal of idling takes place at schools, where buses and cars line up to drop-off and pick-up children and the children end up breathing the exhaust. Stopping unnecessary vehicle idling is one relatively easy way to contribute to improved air quality and respiratory health in our communities.
The quality of the air can affect how we live and breathe. Children are more susceptible because their lungs are still developing and breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults. Chronic exposure to pollutants, even at moderate levels, may permanently decrease lung function. Reducing exposure to outdoor air pollutants is a simple way to protect children. In Arizona, approximately one in eight children suffers from asthma and an additional one in five suffer from allergies. For children suffering from asthma and allergies, approximately 40 percent are impacted by outdoor air quality.
Create your own anti-idling program using our free, ready-to-use, down-loadable materials. Use "as-is," or modify for your own anti-idling campaign.
Implementing a No Idling Program
School Bus Idling Reduction Program
Parent No Idling Program
To create a no idling program targeted only to parents use the following:
- All or some items from Implementing a No Idling Program
- Program Marketing and Outreach Items
- Templates: letter to parents, principal, and transportation supervisor
- Pledge forms and cards for parents
Program Marketing and Outreach
Templates
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