TURN THE ENGINE OFF

GREEN TIP
Brought to you by the MdTL Green Committee
MdTL Encourages you to reduce car idling, and here’s why…
Let's spare the air at MdTL! Here is some useful information about car idling. Stopping unnecessary vehicle idling is one relatively easy way to help improve air quality and the respiratory and cardiovascular health of people in our communities. Children are particularly vulnerable to air pollution. They breathe faster than adults and inhale more air per pound of body weight.
-Idling does more damage to your engine, wastes more gas, and causes more pollution than shutting off the engine and starting it up again.
-The rule of thumb is, if your car is stopped for more than 10 or 15 seconds and you’re not in an active traffic lane, turn off your engine.
-Idling your vehicle for 10 minutes uses as much fuel as it takes to travel 5 miles, and wastes more than 27 gallons a year!
- Car exhaust, including exhaust from idling engines, is closely related to childhood asthma.
Here are a couple myths:
Myth: Idling is good for your engine.
Reality: An idling engine will leave soot deposits that can build up and cause oil contamination. This can damage engine components, including cylinders, spark plugs and exhaust systems.
Myth: Shutting off and restarting your vehicle is hard on the engine and uses more gas than if you leave it running.
Reality: Frequent restarting has little impact on engine components like the battery and the starter motor. Component wear caused by restarting the engine is estimated to add a minuscule $10 per year to the cost of driving.