Checklists of What You Can Do About Unnecessary Vehicle Idling

• Checklist for community groups
• Checklist for municipal governments
• Checklist for schools

Checklist for Community Groups

• Learn more about why vehicle idling is a problem and consider whether it fits in with your community group's mandate and activities.
• Work with other organizations to determine what mix of idle-free initiatives will work best in your community:
  • Partner with other community organizations such as school boards, business associations and your municipal health department.
  • Find out if your municipality has an environmental advisory or air-quality committee. Tell committee members about this Web site, which has all tools they need to start an idle-free campaign or other project.
• Seek funds from government or private sector environmental funding programs. For example, the Moving on Sustainable Transportation (MOST) Program of Transport Canada offers funding for projects that develop innovative tools for sustainable transportation and that promote education and awareness. An application guide for project funding is available from MOST's Web site.
• Distribute information about unnecessary vehicle idling to members of your organization and to your community. The Idle-Free Tool Kit contains ready-to-use graphics and a wealth of other communications tools to get you started.

Checklist for Municipal Governments

• Work with non-governmental organizations to determine what mix of idle-free initiatives will work best in your community.
• Provide funding or in-kind support to local groups to implement an idle-free campaign or other project. Such groups can be environmental and health organizations, school boards, business associations and others. Tell them about this Web site, which offers all the communications tools they need to get started.
• Consult with your municipality's environmental advisory or air-quality committee.
• Determine if idling is a problem at municipal facilities. Our section on survey tools includes a form to monitor vehicle idling.
• Use the interactive Idling Impact Calculator to determine the potential for reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions – and reducing fuel costs – in your municipality. Use this information to create customized idle-free messages.
• Reduce vehicle idling by municipal fleets and by fleets that are municipally regulated (such as taxis). Consider participating in a "fleet challenge" with other municipalities or fleet owners in your community. Learn about workplace-based initiatives for more ideas, and use the Idle-Free Tool Kit's ready-to-use graphics and other communications items.
• Learn from other municipalities that have enacted idle-free by-laws and undertaken idle-free campaigns. Our website includes case studies on what several municipalities in Canada have already done to reduce vehicle idling.
• Consider establishing a by-law to limit vehicle idling.

Checklist for Schools

Remember the Rule – No Idling at School!

Many parents and caregivers idle their vehicles while waiting to pick up children after school. A recent idle-free project in Toronto found that more than a third (35 to 45 percent) of parents idle their vehicles while waiting to pick up their children.

Children are particularly vulnerable to air pollution, which tends to be worse in the late afternoon, precisely when parents are picking up their children, who rush from school into clouds of exhaust from idling vehicles.

What Can You Do?

Green Communities Canada’s "No Idling at School" program offers a wealth of suggestions on what to do in and around schools to reduce vehicle idling. Here are some proven ideas:

• Start small – keep it simple. Don't try to change the behaviour of every parent who drives. Plan for a 30 to 40 percent reduction in the number of idling vehicles, and you'll be off to a great start.
• Use your school’s newsletter to tell parents about the "No Idling at School" project. Also send an information card home with students.
• Ask for commitment from drivers to change their idling behaviour:
  • Ask parents to turn off their vehicle engines when waiting at school and that they make a personal commitment to reduce their idling time. Through your school’s newsletter, inform parents of the dates that you will be requesting their commitment and that volunteers (or students) will be approaching them. Use Greenest Communities Canada’s backgrounder or use items from the Idle-Free Tool Kit as a handout.
  • Over one week, using volunteers or a group of senior students (with teacher supervision), hand out information cards along with window stickers from the Idle-Free Tool Kit. Ask parents to display the sticker on their car window.
  • Keep track of the number of vehicles that have stickers, either by counting vehicles or by having volunteers complete a commitment sheet for every sticker distributed.
• Create a "No-Idling Zone." Many schools encourage students to make large banners or signs for display on fences and around the school where drivers congregate. Some municipalities have idling-control by-laws and can provide metal by-law signs.
• Monitor how well you’re doing. Determine a baseline measurement at the start of your project and periodically check results against the baseline.
  • Ask parent volunteers or senior students with teacher supervision to observe driver behaviour and complete a baseline data collection record. This can be done several times over a week (the best time is at the end of the school day, when most vehicle idling is likely to occur).
• Link vehicle idling to your school's curriculum. Teachers can also help spread the word about reducing vehicle idling through classroom discussions and activities. The following table makes some suggested links to the curriculum in Ontario.