Saying goodbye is never fun
The first time I realized that idling was illegal, I was sitting in a McDonald's parking lot in the East end of Toronto when I was 17. I grew up in a small town. I was pretty in touch with right from wrong from an environmentalists perspective. After seeing the no idling sign predominantly placed at McDonald's - I never idled again. It just made sense.
When I started Idle Hands Ontario, I quickly realized that people didn't care about breaking an idling bylaw. They didn't take it seriously. Nor did they care if public vehicles idled. It was convenient to idle, it was convenient to not turn the key. So this campaign inherently brought its challenges. Being a non confrontational environmentalist, I assumed everyone else was too.
I quickly learned that was not the case. I did learn, however, that upon educating people - they started to agree that idling was harmful. They started to think about all the children that ride transit or the school bus or taxi cabs being exposed to that harmful exhaust. They started to think about the elderly getting wheeled into the hospital on University Avenue. They started to think about wasting their money with useless idling. Upon educating people - they started to get it.
This campaign showed me that anything is possible if you are loud enough and passionate enough. Though we didn't strictly change policy - we made our voices known to government officials. We were a loud voice in the face of idling, and we brought like minded people together to help support a good cause.
I am moving on in my career, and I am sad to say goodbye. But I will always advocate for an Idle Free Ontario, and look forward to the day when that policy shapes itself into a reality.
Best of luck, Idle Hands Ontario, and I shall see you again soon.
Meghan.












