A while ago, I read up on some disturbing impacts of car idling on the environment and decided to join a neighborhood effort to curb unnecessary idling. Our first target was the local school, where parents often idle during pick-up or drop-off time. Sometime, the parents idle up to 10 minutes, emitting car exhaust while other waiting children directly inhale the pollutant.

The group had approached the principal last month and finally she responded last week. The principal was very supportive of our effort and will put our anti-idling brochure in the weekly newsletter. This was a great first step for us. However, to approve and enforce an anti-idling policy, we will need the support of the PTA. So next, we will work on our communication and campaign for PTA support. (The HCES actually offers an anti-idling tool kit to help local campaign efforts.)

On a personal level, I was walking with my daughter right before Thanksgiving and noticed a fellow preschool mom walking towards an idling van. Although a bit apprehensive, I decided to strike up a conversation in attempt to bring up this issue (while our children were admiring each other’s backpacks). During our chat, I casually mentioned how expensive gas has become and how my family tries to conserve by consolidating errands or turning off the car when not needed. I mentioned I read that if the average family cut out 5 minutes of idling per day, they can save over $100 a year in fuel cost. (1) She said she never thought about how the cost of idling and how much it was costing her family. She actually thanked me for the suggestion. Although it was not the environmental epiphany I would like, this will hopefully mean one less car idling in the neighborhood.

(1) http://www.thehcf.org/antiidlingprimer.html