No Idle Zone

Stop unnecessary vehicle idling to improve air quality and respiratory health around your school!

No one wants their children breathing exhaust, and yet a great deal of idling takes place at schools, where buses and cars line up to drop off and pick up children. And children are especially susceptible to the harmful effects of vehicle exhaust. Consider the following:

• Children breathe 50 percent more air per pound than adults.
• Asthma is the third leading cause of hospitalization among children under the age of 15.
• Children’s asthma symptoms increase as a result of car exhaust.
• Asthma is the most common chronic illness in children and the cause of most school absences.
• Exposure to vehicle exhaust increases the risk of death from heart and lung disease and lung cancer.

Because a single vehicle dropping off and picking up kids at one school puts three pounds of pollution into the air per month, stopping unnecessary vehicle idling is one relatively easy way to contribute to improved air quality and respiratory health in our communities.

If you are interested in implementing a No Idle Zone program at your school or adapting it for another organization, our agency can help with advice and consultation, signs and other collateral. Program coordinators could be a teacher, parent, PTA group, student group or other interested party.

Program materials include:

• Program outline and implementation suggestions
• Two, street-grade signs to post at pick-up and drop-off areas
• Parent letter with fact sheet, and optional pledge form
• Letter for bus drivers and vendors
• No-Idle Zone keyrings for incentives

Is your school on the list? Click here for a list of participating schools. Not on the list? It's easy to sign-up, just read below and take action!

School Program -  Interested elementary and middle schools may sign up for this program. It's really quite simple to participate. As a school, you agree to:

• Post two No-Idle Zone signs (pictured above) in the student drop-off/pick-up areas. These signs are provided free-of-charge.
  
• Distribute hard copy or electronic program materials, provided to your school free-of-charge, to school families. This includes a program cover letter, an idling fact sheet, optional pledge form and thank you notes and incentives.
  
• Schools have the option of engaging their students in math and science activities, such as data collection and analysis by conducting pre and post program observations of idling behavior. Most schools that have implemented the program have seen a dramatic decrease in vehicle idling at their school.
  
• If the school is interested, information geared toward drivers of school buses and delivery vehicles is available. These drivers can "make a pledge not to idle unnecessarily" and receive a thank-you keyring as well. 

Community Program - In addition to schools, the No-Idle Zone is reaching into communities and neighborhoods in the Spokane-area. Congratulations to the City of Liberty Lake, Washington! They are the first city in Washington to pass a No-Idle Zone resolution to support and encourage their residents to avoid unnecessary idling in their community. The City Millwood, Washington also recently adopted a No-Idle Zone resolution.

Sign up today!
This program is available throughout Spokane County. To sign up and get your free materials, contact Lisa Woodard or call her at (509) 477-4727, ext. # 115.

This program is proudly sponsored by: