Campaign

The 'Engine Off When You Stop' campaign aims to raise awareness on the impacts of car idling by educating motorists outside schools, at petrol stations, train stations and local community business districts. Our aim is to change driver behaviour throughout Australia with the help of businesses, local councils and schools across the nation.

​

Aside from at traffic lights, leaving car engines running while stationary is simply an unnecessary source of air pollution. In fact, idling your car for more than 10 seconds uses more fuel and emits more CO2 than engine restarting (Source: afdc.energy.gov), a fact that very few everyday Aussies seem to realise. An idling car engine equates to roughly 150 balloons worth of harmful emissions every minute! (Source: cleanerairportsmouth.co.uk)

 

There are also considerable health impacts, particularly for young children as schools seem to be a hotspot for unnecessary and lengthy car idling. A recent Sydney Morning Herald article revealed that in Australia, findings suggest vehicle emissions cause more than 11,000 premature deaths, 12,200 cardiovascular hospitalisations, 6,800 respiratory hospitalisations and 66,000 childhood asthma cases every year.

 

Put simply, turning your car off when stationary (e.g. school pick-up);

• Saves you money on fuel, helping the economy by reducing levels of wasted resource.

• Helps protect community health, particularly school children

• Helps the planet by reducing CO2 emissions.

​

The largest environmental risk to health is air pollution. Remember to turn your engine off when you stop and encourage your local community to do the same.