Anti-IdlingTraining Session

Presented byJulie Beer, Susan Tse & Gerry Hay

February 23rd, 2006McMath Secondary

Presentation Overview

Why Idling is a Problem

Myths versus Reality

The Benefits of Taking Action

How We Can Take Action

Resources

Why Is Idling a Problem?

Idling our vehicles:

produces unnecessary pollution that contributes to climate change & smog

jeopardizes our health

wastes fuel and costs us money

is not good for vehicle engines

Most Canadians idle for 5–10 minutes a day or more, with idling increasing in the winter months

In the height of winter, Canadians idle for a combined total of 75 million minutes a day – equivalent to one vehicle idling for 144 years!

Idling Habits of Canadians

Idling Myth #1

RealityReality Idling is not an effective way to

warm up your vehicle.

Driving your vehicle is the best way to warm it up.

30 seconds of warming up your vehicle on winter days is enough.

The engine should be warmed up before driving.

Idling Myth #2

RealityReality

An idling engine is not operating at its peak temperature, which means fuel combustion is incomplete.

Excessive idling can damage your engine components, including cylinders, spark plugs and the exhaust system.

Idling is good for your engine.

Idling Myth #3

RealityReality Frequent restarting has little

impact on engine components.

More than 10 seconds of idling uses more fuel than restarting the engine.

Shutting off and restarting yourvehicle is hard on the engine

and uses more gas.

The Benefits of Taking Action

Not idling will:

Save you money

Reduce engine wear and tear

Improve the quality of air in your community

Reduce harmful GHG emissions that contribute to climate change & smog

It can be done. . .with the turn of a key.

If every driver of a light-duty vehicle avoided idling for just five minutes per day, we would:

save 1.9 million litres of fuel valued at $1.7 million

prevent more than 4550 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere

How Do We Take Action? Introduction to Social

Marketing Social marketing:

is a planned process for influencing change

is a term that is modified from the conventional product or service marketing

can play a central role in topics such as health, environment, and other important issues

Community-Based Social Marketing

 Community-based social marketing:emphasizes direct contact among community members

focuses on the removal of structural barriers

Research suggests that such approaches are often most likely to bring about behaviour change.

Community-Based Social Marketing

 Community-based social marketing is pragmatic. It involves:

identifying the barriers to a behaviour

developing and piloting a program to overcome these barriers

implementing the program across a community

evaluating the effectiveness of the program

Tools for CBSMCommunication - from most to least effective: face-to-face, TV, radio, newsprint (although newsprint is most effective for complicated messages such as effects on climate change)

Prompts – purpose is to overcome forgetting; needs to be close in space and time to action we want to encourage

Commitment - want this to be public and durable

Social Diffusion - personal appeals and conversations can be effective

Norms - if we make behaviour salient and visible, this becomes more of the social norm, therefore more pressure to behave this way

Common Idling Moments

warming up your car

waiting for your windows to defrost

running a “quick” errand

waiting in a drive-thru

waiting in a ferry line up

waiting to pick someone up (e.g. outside a house, school, airport, etc.)

waiting to get a parking spot

What Can I Do?

Act as an individual

Prepare and implement an anti-idling action plan at your school

Individual Idle-FreeAction Plan

Reduce “warm up” idling to 30 seconds

Turn off your engine if you are going to be stopped for more than 10 seconds (except in traffic)

Avoid drive-thrus

Plan your trips and combine errands to drive less

Spread the word to your family and friends

Anti-Idling Action Planfor Your School

1. Find a team of people willing to create and implement an idle-free campaign.

2. Attend a training session with your team and create an action plan.

3. Gather all the important stakeholders in your school community and get approval for your project.

4. Collect data about current idling practices at your school.

Anti-Idling Action Plan5. Get permission for the installation of idle-free

signs at your school and have them installed.

6. Inform your school community about idling and the benefits of being idle-free.

7. Implement a plan to approach drivers who are idling that includes:

informing the driver about idling

asking the driver for a verbal commitment not to idle

offering an idle-free sticker to the driver to display on his/her windshield

The Anti-Idling Tool KitReady-to-Use Graphics

The Anti-Idling Tool Kit Campaign Materials

Anti-Idling Action Plan

8. Collect data to see if your campaign has had an impact.

9. Reinforce your idle-free message as necessary.

10. Remember that it takes time to change habits!

Working Towards anIdle-Free Zone

Other possibilities are to:

Celebrate your successes by informing local newspapers of your campaign.

Produce displays for local events.

Make presentations to other schools in the neighbourhood.

Make presentations to community organizations around you.

Summary Idling is a problem because it produces

unnecessary pollution and preventable health problems. It also wastes fuel, costs us money, and is not good for our vehicles’ engines.

Reducing idling will help spare our air, slow climate change and save energy and money.

We need to shatter the myths about idling and give people the correct information.

We can act both as individuals and as a team to change people’s idling behaviour.

It’s Up to Us!

The first step is to take action to reduce your own vehicle’s idling.

Next, we need to get out there and help change other people’s behaviour.

Together, we can make a difference!

For More Information

Visit the Idle-Free Zone: http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/autosmart/idling/

Contact:Julie Beer, Environmental Coordinator

City of Richmond

Gerry Hay, Fleet Training OfficerCity of Richmond

Susan Tse, Teacher ConsultantRichmond School Board