Hey all you inconsiderate slobs parked curb side in idling automobiles with the air-conditioning on and engines blasting hot air on passers-by, turn the darn engines off. Your precious cool environment should last the couple of minutes you will be parked. If not, suffer.
If that weren't enough, read the following words of wisdom.
Canada is a nation of vehicle idlers-a habit that costs millions of dollarsa year in wasted fuel and produces unnecessary emissions of carbon dioxide(CO2), a greenhouse gas that is a major contributor to climate change. Worsestill, vehicle idling also contributes to other environmental problems suchas deteriorating air quality and smog, which directly affects the health ofchildren, seniors and people with respiratory problems. Additionally,contrary to popular belief, idling is not even good for your vehicle'sengine!Idling Wastes Fuel and Money Canadian motorists idle their vehicles an average of five to 10 minutes per day. A recent study suggests that in the peak of winter, Canadians voluntarily idle their vehicles for a combined total of more than 75 million minutes a day-equivalent to one vehicle idling for 144 years. We idle about 40 per cent less in summer, but it still amounts to an enormous waste offuel and money. If every driver of a light-duty vehicle in Canada avoidedidling for just five minutes, we would save more than 2.5 million litres offuel worth more than $1,7 million (assuming a fuel price of $0.69 perlitre). Imagine the savings with the current fuel prices of $0.94 per litre!Idling Contributes to Climate Change There is growing evidence that warmer global temperatures are triggering a wide range of changes in our climate. Scientists believe that global warming is being caused by the increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. As more and more of these gases accumulate, they are trapping heat near the Earth's surface, which is causing temperatures to rise.
The transportation sector is the single largest source of greenhouse gasemissions in Canada. Although CO2 emissions from our vehicles areunavoidable (at least until zero-emission vehicles are on the market),emissions from idling vehicles are completely unnecessary and can be easilyprevented-with the turn of a key. In Canada, if we all reduced our idling byjust "five" minutes every day-we could prevent more than two tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year!!! That's the equivalent of taking 380,000 cars off the road for a year!
Idling Affects Air Quality and Our Health Emissions from motor vehicles can have a significant impact on air quality. In large urban areas, contaminants from vehicle exhaust are major contributors to deteriorating air quality and smog. Recent studies by Health Canada and community health departments and agencies have shown a direct link between contaminants in vehicle emissions and significant respiratory health effects. These studies have concluded that poor air quality and smog-caused in part by vehicle exhaust-are resulting in increased hospital admissions, respiratory illnesses and premature deaths. Health Canadaestimates that more than 5,000 Canadians die prematurely each year becauseof air pollution, and thousands more become unnecessarily ill. Children areparticularly vulnerable to air pollution because they breathe faster than adults and inhale more air per pound of body weight. Air pollution also causes unnecessary difficulty for elderly people and those with respiratory problems, such as asthma. Stopping unnecessary vehicle idling is one relatively easy way to contribute to improved air quality and respiratory health in our communities.Idling Is Not Good for Your Vehicle's Engine Contrary to popular belief, idling is not an effective way to warm up your vehicle, even in cold weather. The best way to do this is to drive the vehicle. In fact, with today's modern engines, in most driving conditions, you need no more than 30 seconds of idling on winter days before driving away. Actually, excessive idling can actually damage your engine, as an idling engine is not operating at its peak temperature, which means that fuel combustion is incomplete. This leaves fuel residues that can condenseon cylinder walls, where they can contaminate oil and damage enginecomponents. For example, fuel residues tend to deposit on spark plugs. Asthe amount of engine idling increases, the average plug temperature dropsand plug fouling is accelerated. This, in turn, can increase fuelconsumption by four to five per cent. Excessive idling can also allow waterto condense in the vehicle's exhaust, which can lead to corrosion and reducethe life of the exhaust system.
If you're concerned that continually shutting off and restarting the vehicleis hard on the engine, don't be. Frequent restarting has little impact onengine components such as the battery and starter motor. Component wearcaused by restarting the engine is estimated to add $10 per year to the costof driving, money that will likely be recovered several times over in fuelsavings from reduced idling. So, when should you turn off the engine?Believe it or not, if you idle your vehicle for more than 10 seconds, youuse more fuel than it would take to restart your engine. As a rule of thumb,if you are going to be stopped for 10 seconds or more, except in traffic,turn your engine off.
Why Do People Idle? For all the convenient excuses that people have for idling their vehicles, idling is still a waste of fuel and money, contributes to environmental pollutants and is completely avoidable. Do your part, save money, save fuel, minimize maintenance costs on your engine and reduce pollutants by turning your car off when parked... so we can all breathe a little easier.
Have a hoot, idling is for fools
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