Start a school campaign
Schools should be a safe and healthy place to learn. Most parents would agree that we need to protect our children from harm. If there is mold in a school, it is closed. If there is risks of viruses, we are told to stay home. Yet everyday, many children are exposed to harmful toxins from vehicle exhaust. If smoking in public is illegal, surely idling engines, which are 10 times more toxic, should be banned as well.
How about starting a NO IDLING campaign at your local school?
In many communities, parents drive their kids to school or they get bused to school. Many times, parents and buses can be found idling their cars while waiting. This is harmful to the parents who are also waiting, to school staff and bus drivers, but most importantly to the hundreds of kids who will be running into the collective plume of exhaust fumes.
Of course, walking or biking to school would be healthiest and best for the environment but it is not practical for some who live 5 kilometers from school. For those who do need to take the bus to school, we would like to make bus travel safer and cleaner for our kids and the environment and are therefore in contact with school bus companies to work with them to make school buses shut down their engines whenever the vehicle is in PARK. Stop school bus idling!
For the parents that do drive to school, chances are you have some parents who are unaware of the harm they are causing when they idle their engines in the parking lots. So DADA supports existing no-idling programs and wants to provide further resources and offer a more strategic approach to make them more effective. This is the heart and the first phase of the DADA program and it requires parents like you to make it a success.
Talk to your Principal and School Council to start a program today!
DADA can provide pamphlets, signage, banners, and other resources to help with your school campaign. Get started with your campaign: