Children warn drivers against idling outside schools

Schools across East Herts are displaying banners warning drivers about idling their engines while waiting in their cars.

The poster is made up of artwork created by children at anti-idling workshops which have taken place through East Herts Council’s Breathe Clean initiative. The aim of the banners is to create greater awareness of why it’s best to turn off the engine when at a stop.

Idling is when drivers keep their engine running after stopping for more than 30 seconds. It often occurs at school pick up times, contributing to unnecessary pollution, with fuel and money being wasted.

Turning off a car engine engine for ten minutes could prevent 450g of CO2 from being released. 

In the past, anti-idling experiments around London schools saw levels of black carbon — which is very much associated with car exhausts — drop by 36% after ‘no idling’ action days.

Drivers often defend themselves with incorrect assumptions, such as that turning your engine off and on again actually causes higher levels of pollution, but this is only the case if you’re restarting your car within less than a minute. Drivers waiting for longer than 60 seconds, which is usually the case around schools, should switch off their engines.

It’s also a myth that restarting the engine uses more fuel — and therefore costs more money — than keeping the engine running. In fact, idling for ten minutes will use at least one-tenth of a litre of fuel. 

Furthermore, keeping the engine running isn’t just bad for the people standing nearby. According to King’s College, London, air pollution can be up to 15 times higher inside the car than outside. It can be even worse in winter as the heater can pull fumes into the vehicle.

Councillor Tim Hoskin, Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability at East Herts Council, said: ‘Air pollution causes avoidable deaths across the UK every year so improving air quality across East Herts continues to be a key priority for the council. Walking to school is unfortunately not an option for all children so we hope this campaign will encourage parents and carers who must drive to school to avoid contributing to air pollution.’

Spreading the anti-idling message outside schools is just one part of the council’s broader air quality campaign which includes air quality monitors in air pollution hot spots and working with local businesses to develop sustainable travel plans.

Launched in June 2023, the Breathe Clean scheme has worked with schools, workplaces and community groups to highlight things we can all do to protect ourselves from air pollution while reducing our personal contribution to the issue.