Middle School Students Remind Parents To Stop Idling Cars

Nine students are taking environmental activism into their own hands, urging parents to take one simple step while waiting in the pick-up line—turn off their cars. 

The "Green Team," a new student group formed in December at  to help improve the environment, has chosen idling vehicles as their first issue to confront, educating locals on the dangers of exhaust fumes. 

"The Green Team chose idling as an issue that they wanted to work on while walking through the exhaust in the parent pick-up line," said Jeanne Mayo, Green Team adviser and media specialist at Sykesville Middle. "They knew they wanted to put a stop to the nasty fumes."  

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, if 145 million passenger vehicles idle for five minutes a day, approximately 4 million gallons of gasoline are consumed.

Mayo said the students she's mentoring are hoping to lower this number, starting at their own school.

"They’ve done a bunch of different things including writing letters to the press, putting signs throughout the school, sending an 'idle-free pledge' home to parents, and putting signs up outside the school to designate an 'idle-free zone,'" said Mayo. "The kids themselves have even made signs to wear and walk around the parking with to remind parents to shut off their cars." 

By starting small, Mayo said her group hopes to make a big impact.

"We figured if people can change their habits when it’s cold and makes the biggest difference, hopefully they’ll start changing it for a lifetime," she said.