Anti-Idling Campaign
Purpose:
To educate drivers about the health and environmental hazards of air pollution caused by idling, and encourage them to stop idling in the school zone.
Description:
Campaign aims to change that behaviour through a combination of education and encouragement that can take many forms, depending on a school’s interests and capacity. Examples of campaign activities include:
– Whole-school assembly and announcements;
– Newsletter article(s);
– Posters for display around school;
– ‘Traffic counts’ to measure how many vehicles are idling;
– Air quality monitoring to measure pollution levels;
– Letters to parents and school bus drivers asking them not to idle; and
– Permanent idle-free zone signage.
Student groups are encouraged to take the lead to develop a campaign message and materials, with support from teachers. Data should be collected before and after the campaign activities to measure the impact on idling behaviour.
What you will need:
Campaign templates (see Resources below), arts & crafts materials for posters, computer to write/submit content for school newsletter.
Help:
Student leaders/group, teachers, public health nurses, principals, school council.
Resources:
Idle-Free Campaign Kit by Clean Air Partnership
Idle-Free Toolkit for a Healthy School Environment by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency