It’s not good for you, or the environment, to idle your car

Although it’s tempting on frosty mornings to start your car long before you’re ready to hop in it and go, letting it idle in the driveway pollutes your neighbourhood, wastes gas, and isn’t any better for your car than driving away thirty seconds after you start it in the first place.

But warming up the car is a Canadian habit. Based on research by the Department of Natural Resources, in the peak of winter many Canadian motorists idle their vehicles for about eight minutes a day. Nation-wide it amounts to more than 75 million minutes of idling a day, wastes over 2.2 million litres of fuel and produces over five million kilograms of greenhouse gases.

Idling is such a pollution problem in big cities that some, like New York, have passed no-idling laws. Although our communities are not densely populated idling is still a pollution problem and a public health issue since many of the places where people idle are public areas where there are more people around to breath in the fumes. As well, you inhale exhaust if you’re sitting in an idling vehicle.

An idling vehicle emits CO2 (the primary greenhouse gas) and a mix of other gasses that have been linked to increased rates of cancer, heart and lung disease, asthma and allergies. Children and the elderly are more at risk. The environmental Defense Fund calls idling the second-hand smoking of the outdoors.

Warming your vehicle on cool mornings is only one of the reasons why Canadians idle their vehicles. Empty vehicles idle in public places while the driver runs an errand, people sit in idling cars in store parking lots, presumably while someone does the shopping, and people idle while they chat.

If you have a habit of idling, being mindful of its effect on your health and on the environment might make it easier to stop. Natural Resources Canada has some other suggestions too:

Your car doesn’t need to idle to warm the engine. In fact, the best way to warm your engine is to drive your car at a moderate speed. About 30 seconds is all that’s needed before you put it in gear and drive away. As well, driving your car gets the heater going more quickly so you won’t have to wait too long for the car’s interior to warm up.

Don’t leave your car running while you run an errand. It will only take a minute for your vehicle to warm up again once you return.

Instead of sitting in a parking lot with the car idling while someone is in getting groceries, turn off the car and go into the store. It saves on gas, reduces green house gas emissions and you won’t be breathing fumes that leak into the car.

As a general rule, if you’re stopped for more than 10 seconds, turn off your engine. It has a minimal impact on the starter switch, and idling for over10 seconds uses more fuel than it would take to re-start your engine.

[written by guest blogger Bridget Oland]

At Green Cricket we are committed to help people live a greener lifestyle and to help raise issues of environmental concern. The Earth Hour movement, since its 2007 beginnings in Australia, has gained international acceptance and participation.

Last year, hundreds of millions of people took part in the third Earth Hour 2009. Over 4000 cities in 88 countries officially switched off to pledge their support for the planet, making Earth Hour 2009 the world’s largest global climate change initiative.

Earth Hour 2010 takes place on Saturday 27 March at 8.30pm (local time) and is a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community throughout the world. It is a call to stand up, to take responsibility, to get involved and lead the way towards a sustainable future.

We want to give you some insight how our Green Cricket staff intend to spend Earth Hour, please read on…

Giselle & Bill: We will likely be playing aboard game with Jules by candlelight on our patio. Hopefully it’s nice weather and we’ll be able to see some stars in the city if enough people shut their lights off.

Susan: My kids and i will be spending Earth Hour playing a game by candlelight at home. They are both teenagers, and this is a refreshing break from facebook, twitter, X-Box and the other digital sinkholes that seem to occupy their non-school waking hours! We did this last year, and it was a wonderful time to emphasize to them the peace and tranquility that goes along with simple activities, with no need for electronics to entertain.  We need to be thankful for mother earth, and protect her while we can!

Katie: Earth Hour also equals bed time for my 2 young ones, so we’ll be doing bedtime stories by flashlight.  We got both solar and crank flashlights for Christmas, so we’ll be putting them to the test during our living room campout.

David: My plan is Candlelight yoga!

Peggy & Trevor: We are planning earth hour with Peggy’s family west of Toronto near Waterloo and are calling it “dark desserts” – coffee by candlelight… with chocolate of course too!….

*********************************************

Now we would like to hear from you….please post how you will spend Earth Hour?…

Written by Guest Blogger: Bridget Oland

We all know that swapping out old incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent light bulbs(CFLs) is one painless way to reduce your annual power bill. (Lights account for about 5% of overall household power use). CFLs use 75 percent less energy than their incandescent counterparts and last up to 10 times longer. When you do the light bulb math each CFL bulb can prevent more than 450 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions. And depending on electrical rates you could save about $80 in energy costs over the life of the bulb.

If you’re going to make this worthwhile investment (and it is an investment, considering the cost) you’ll want to ensure each bulb lasts a good long time.

A friend was complaining recently that CFL bulbs in his home weren’t lasting nearly as long as they were supposed to. We were noticing the same thing so I did some research and discovered a few tips to help extend the life of your pricey bulbs:

• In fixtures on a dimmer switch use dimmable CFLs (should be stated on the packaging). Dimmers shorten the life of regular CFLs.
• CFLs are best in areas where they’re likely to be on for 15 minutes at a time or longer. Using them in places where they’ll be turned on and off frequently (like closets and bathrooms) will shorten their life.
• For totally enclosed fixtures buy bulbs that state clearly on that packaging that they’re designed for this use.
• If the bulb has been used according to the manufacturer’s instructions and still burns out early you may be eligible for a refund or a replacement. Energy Star certified bulbs carry at least a two-year warranty (covering manufacturer defects). The catch is that you need to save your receipts and contact the manufacturer directly.

(more…)