Funding available for ‘Schools Are Not Drive-thrus’ programs

Have you ever sat in your car when it’s not moving with the engine running at school dismissal time? Or while waiting for a companion at a grocery store, bank or post office? Or as you text or warm up your vehicle’s engine? This behavior is called idling, specifically idling when parked, a largely unnecessary practice.

Idling contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and is linked to asthma, decreased lung function, cardiac disease, cancer and other serious health problems.

The California Air Resources Board has found that nearly three times as many people die related to air pollution as from car accidents, annually and that stopping all unnecessary idling in the U.S. is equivalent to removing pollution from 5 million vehicles. Further, it is estimated that idling from vehicles in the U.S. wastes about 6 billion gallons of fuel annually.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency confirms that children’s developing lungs are vulnerable to health problems when exposed to elevated levels of pollutants such as benzene, formaldehyde and other air toxics during the afternoon hour when parents pick up their children at schools.

Green Driving America Inc., (GDA) a Sacramento County-based non-profit organization, educates on transportation efficiency, including addressing unnecessary idling. GDA has funding to implement a no-cost program entitled “Schools Are Not Drivethrus.” Idle-free campaigns for the 2022-23 school year took place at two Northern California public schools, one of which was Eagle Peak Middle School.

Previous school campaigns found that, on average, 50 vehicles wait for 15-30 minutes during dismissal time and that 70 percent of those vehicles are idling. Over the span of a school year, that means idling consumes 450 to 600 gallons of fuel, resulting in emissions of 4.5 to six tons of CO2!

Eagle Peak Middle School sixth grade science classes of Ms. Shalyn Alton enthusiastically participated in the Schools Are Not Drivethrus program. Following an initial classroom presentation and discussion about idling in early December 2022, over a four-day period, teams of students conducted unobtrusive observations at dismissal time and recorded how many vehicles were idling and for how long.

Results revealed that out of 291 vehicles observed, approximately 193 or 66.3 percent of vehicles were seen idling for a total of 748 minutes or 12.46 hours; the amount of fuel spent during that idling time was 5.74 gallons for an average of 1.44 gallons per day. Based on 175 school days in a year, it was calculated that 252 gallons of fuel are wasted while idling, resulting in an estimate of 4,987.5 pounds of CO2 emissions annually.

Twelve students in Ms. Shalyn’s class opted to do school science fair projects based on the class idlefree study. At the March 7 School Science Night, these students displayed their findings, focusing on how much CO2 was released by idling vehicles and how much fuel was wasted by doing so. Two students also gave oral presentations to a standing room only crowd at the event.

Of the study, one sixthgrade student shared: “I think the most important thing people should know about idling vehicles at schools and carbon emissions is that it will waste your gas and it will pollute the environment.” Another sixth-grader added, “We produce pounds of carbon emissions each day. Carbon emissions are more dangerous (for) kids because their heads are closer to the ground.”

Teacher Shalyn Alton plans to repeat the study next year so that progress in addressing idling vehicles can be measured. She concludes: “This project is important because it makes issues related to atmospheric composition personal and relevant. Based on the data collected and presented, folks are given the opportunity to make locally-informed decisions concerning their own actions that might have an impact on our region’s environment. Projects like this help the future leaders of our planet (our children) make personal connections to the health and care of the earth.”

“As a STEM school, one of our core pillars is teaching students about best practices for taking care of our environment,” said Principal Dan Stearns. “We enthusiastically applaud Ms. Shalyn’s leadership and work in this arena with our students.”