MSMS has implemented a No Idling on campus program. New signs were fully installed and placed in the parking lot and the loop to remind parents during pick up and drop off to turn of their cars. This simple step reduces the amount of air pollution, in the form of car/truck exhaust fumes, that our students are exposed to during drop-off and pick up each day. Even turning off an engine for just 10-seconds has a significant impact on reducing our children’s exposure to air pollution. Parents were given a link to this report, Caution: Children Breathing – An overview of air pollution and idling vehicles at Colorado schools. Below is an excerpt:
DID YOU KNOW?
1. Ford Motor Company says: “Avoid idling more than 30 seconds (when not in traffic)-Frequent restarting has little impact on the battery and starter (maybe $10 a year), whereas excessive idling can actually damage important components such as engine cylinders, spark plugs, and the exhaust system.”
2. For modern cars with fuel-injection, idling 10 seconds uses more gas than restarting your engine.
3. Idling pollutes the air outside and in your vehicle. Pollution from exhaust contributes to lung infections, pneumonia, influenza and asthma.
4. Most people waste 1-2 entire tankfuls of gas every year by idling.
5. Just 1 minute of idling puts more carbon monoxide into the air than three packs of cigarettes.
6. Every minute counts: in the Denver Metro Area, everyone’s idling adds up to cause over 40,000 TONS of harmful air pollution and 400,000 Tons of Greenhouse gas emissions every year.
7. Observations over several days at Mitchell measured cars, trucks, and SUVs idling for a combined total of almost 4 HOURS per day of idling while waiting to pick up students. 4 hours of idling a day adds up to:
a) 360 gallons of fuel wasted per year. That means schools families are spending over $1,300 per year to turn gas into pollution at the school.
b) 10 gallons of fuel burned up and exhausted into the school’s air every week.
c) Over 600 pounds of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and other harmful pollutants exhausted into the air at the school every year.
d) More carbon monoxide every day than is in the smoke from 720 packs of cigarettes.