Transport Steps: Stop Vehicle Idling

Courtesy of www.EarthHero.org

Ease: Easy
Impact Rating (1-5): 1
Influence Beyond You: 1
Types of Impacts: Health, Save Energy, Money saver, Direct carbon emissions

Does it help with making your community resilient to disasters and emergencies? No

Tags: Community

Money Saved (1-4 $): $

Source(s): www.projectdrawdown.org/Being the Change by P. Kalmus
Description: This one is simple. Switch off your vehicle when pulled over. It is an easy way to protect public health and make an immediate improvement to local air quality.

There is a surprising amount of pollution that comes out of vehicles while idling. Engine idling contributes to asthma, heart disease and lung cancer because of the pollution put into the air from burning gas. It can even stunt young lungs.

Whether you are stopped waiting for a friend to jump in or are outside a school for pick up, simply turn off your engine to keep the fumes from building up around you. Had no idea? No big deal. Now you can move forward with this simple new habit.

How-to Tips:

• Want to listen to the radio or use other vehicle functions while idle? Simply turn on your vehicle to run off the battery. No noxious fumes will come out and most accessories will still work.

• Have an electric vehicle or high-efficiency engine that automatically shuts off when stationary? Then you are fine and not contributing to air pollution while idling.

Image credit: Photo by Faruk Tokluoğlu on Pexels

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