Take the no idle challenge

Turn it off after 30 seconds

Think of all the places you wait while in your car: picking up kids, at the drive through, stuck on the wrong side of a passing train. You think it’ll only take a half a minute and it ends up taking five.

Idling is unnecessary and affects our Puget Sound air quality — and the health of those around us. In fact, idling produces twice as much pollution as stopping and restarting your warmed-up engine. A single vehicle dropping off and picking up kids at one school puts three pounds of pollution into the air per month.

Children’s asthma symptoms increase as a result of car exhaust. And the exhaust from a line-up of idling cars is unpleasant for most everyone, regardless of age or health condition. 

Excessive idling is also hard on your engine because it isn’t working at peak operating temperature. Fuel doesn’t undergo complete combustion, leaving spark plugs dirty and contaminating engine oil. Modern engines need no more than 30 seconds of idling on winter days before starting to drive.  In fact, idling for long periods in cold weather can actually cause excessive engine wear.

So, do yourself and the folks behind your tailpipe a favor — shut your engine down when you are sitting in your car for more than a few seconds. You’ll save fuel and help clear the air.