Regarding the No-Idling Signs posted by our school sidewalks:

Please no idling your cars as you wait to pick up your child from Greenacres!  Exhaust from idling vehicles can cause lung damage and respiratory problems.  Exhaust also exacerbates asthma and existing allergies, and long-term exposure is thought to increase the risk of lung cancer.

Children are especially vulnerable to idling because:

• Children's lungs continue to develop as they grow, and they are most susceptible to harmful toxins released from vehicles during their school years
• Chidren breathe, on average, 50% more air per pound weight than adults
• Children are closer to the ground, and therefore, closer to tailpipes
• The World Health Orgnization found that particle pollution and ground-level ozone aggravated asthma in children and contributed to an increased rate of respiratory tract infection

Idling vehicles also waste fuel and emissions contribute to global warming.  Some may think that turning your engine off and on uses more gas than idling however:

• Idling for 30 seconds uses more fuel than restarting your engine, and idling for 10 minutes a day wastes an average of 24.6 gallons of gas per year
• Reducing or avoiding idling optimizes car performance as well as extends vehicle life

Idling is bad for the environment, bad for your budget and bad for our health.  In addition, as the signs state, it is also against the law to idle for more than 3 minutes if the temperature is 40 degrees or warmer.  

Let's work together to make our school safer for our students and the planet!

Thank you for your cooperation.

The Greenacres Environmental Committee