Discussion
Idling is only one of the contributing factors to the production of greenhouse gases and climate change. But it is a factor that can easily be reduced by all vehicle drivers without any investment of time or money.
Children can experience making a difference by delivering a message that matters to them and influence climate change by helping people understand the implications of idling, air quality and climate change.
1. Introduce the ideas of air quality, climate change and idling.
- Visit our Links page for more information on air quality and climate change.
- Check out the sample CO2 Calculator from Natural Resources Canada's Idle Free Zone to generate some home-town numbers that can be used to create powerful, attention-grabbing headlines for posters and flyers.
Did You Know?
...that if every driver of a light-duty vehicle in Quispamsis, New Brunswick, avoided idling for 5 minutes a day, the city could prevent 3.19 tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each day?
That's 1,163.32 tonnes per year!
That's enough carbon dioxide to fill 198 Gymnasiums.
"By avoiding idling for 5 minutes a day, motorists of Quispamsis, New Brunswick, could, each day, collectively avoid wasting 1,350.5 litres of fuel worth $1,066.90. On an annual basis, this translates into savings of 492,932.5 litres worth $389,416.68."
Discuss specific actions they can take to make a difference such as the Switch off! educational activities provided:
2. Discuss with your class why idling is harmful to people and the environment.
Use the facts in Did You Know below for some background information about idling. Then generate some discussion by asking some questions. Find out definitions here.
Possible Discussion Questions:
- What does air pollution mean to you? How about clean air and climate change?
- How does engine idling affect you?
Do you know anyone who idles their car engine?- Where do you see engines idling?
- What kinds of vehicles do you see idling?
- How does engine idling affect the things you like to do everyday?
- Do you think making a poster about idling might help? If so, how?
- Do you think giving people flyers about engine idling might help? If so, how?
3. Ask students what things make people change their habits and attitudes.
Here are some ideas to start with:
- New information?
- Penalties or fines?
- Confrontation and being told what to do?
- Peer or societal pressure?
- Being shown that there is a choice to be made?
Stress the point that it's not about telling people what to do. Instead, it's about giving good information to let people make their own choices about whether or not to change their habits, e.g. whether or not to idle their engines, or whether or not to recycle.
Visit our Did You Know page for more ideas.
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