IDLING GETS US NOWHERE- Drummond kicks off its Anti-Idling Campaign
Drummond is kicking off an Anit-Idling campaign at school. We are asking parents/caregivers/community members to turn off car engines while waiting in cars outside school, especially at pick-up. Exhaust from idling cars outside schools is directly linked to air quality and is harmful to our health. (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/health/research/13exhaust.html)
If you’d like to help out with our campaign or join the Drummond Green Team, email . Help make the school environment safer for kids! See a letter that will be placed in backpacks shortly:
Dear Parents and Guardians:
Help reduce toxic air pollution that affects our children everyday. Turn your engines off when you are waiting in your car outside the school.
Drummond School invites you to join our “Idling Gets Us Nowhere” campaign. You can help by turning off your engine when you drop off or pick up your children from school or other activities. Turning you engine off will improve the indoor air for Drummond students. Of course, our campaign does not apply to those parents dropping off during kiss-n-go.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in urban areas, cars are the single largest contributor to ozone which is harmful to our health. An idling vehicle emits 20 times more pollution than a car traveling 32 miles an hour. The EPA estimates that air toxics emitted by vehicles account for half of all cancers attributed to outdoor sources of air pollution. By reducing idling, we can reduce the pollution our children are exposed to and make the air healthier for our children to breathe.
Drummond’s Green Team, set up by the Local School Council, has recommended that Drummond start a “Idling Gets Us Nowhere” campaign at the school, in response to an EPA report that the air quality around Drummond is poor. Because we are so close to the highway, we need to do everything we can to cut down on the exhaust our kids are breathing.
YOU CAN HELP BY:
⇒ Turning off your engine whenever you are waiting for longer than a few minutes.
⇒ Tell your family and friends to join the “Idling Gets Us Nowhere” campaign by turning off their engines in the vicinity of Drummond School.
Especially in the colder months and as we approach the warmer months, I hope you will join with Drummond to make a difference in the air that we and our children breathe.
Mark Neidlinger Miriam Espada
Ps- If you’d like to help out with our campaign or join the Drummond Green Team, email and help make the school environment safer for kids!
