#idlefree

[mercurymomentum]

Idle Free at Idlewild for Reno Earth Day on Sunday! Idling for more than 10 seconds costs more than restarting you engine! #idlefree #IdlewildPark #renoearthday (at Idlewild Park)

[aholsniffsglue]

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#BISCAYNEWORLD #MIAMIFULLTIME - DON'T GET CAUGHT BY THE PROPELLER - ALL WE MAKE IS WAKE!!! #IDLEFREE - tune by @ottovonschirach - music video for the jam still coming soon!!!

[spencermk2]

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Everything about this is way better than whatever you're doing. #cyclist #nightridaz #bianchi #loveaffair #cantevenhandleit #mylifeisamazing #fuckgas #idlefree #oldlouisville #louisville #bluegrass #littlemisssnakeeyes

[idlehandsont]

Idle Hands Ontario's Christmas Wish List

Idle Hands Ontario has had a successful and invigorating start to our "Idle Free Ontario" campaign. However, there is still room for improvement, and we need all the help we can get from our followers and supporters. 

To put things into perspective, municipal vehicles idle for 40-70% of their operating time. This is wasting over one million dollars in wasted gas. These vehicles are idling unnecessarily and they are wasting taxpayers money, not to mention releasing harmful greenhouse gases into our fragile environment. Greenhouse gas emissions have continued to be overlooked by our government, despite the statement released by Stephen Harper to reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions by 17% in 2020. Our government is failing to achieve these targets:

http://www.environment.utoronto.ca/AllocatingGHGReductions2013/

So what does Idle Hands Ontario want for Christmas?

 For municipal government to change their bylaws to include government owned fleet vehicles!

 For provincial government to create a provincial wide mandate to be an idle free province!

For fleet managers to recognize the emission and cost savings from turning off their fleets!

For idling bylaws to be strictly enforced to ensure the general public follow this bylaw! 

2014 provides us with fresh starts and new beginnings. We are determined to push the government to answer our questions and influence positive, green, sustainable change. Our government must look at vehicle emissions and regulate the extravagant idle times from fleets. We are paying for this idling time in taxpayers money and in dirty air. 

Please stay tuned to advancements in the new year, and please, spread awareness of the harms of car idling to relatives and loved ones over the holidays. Together, we can influence change!

[idlehandsont]

Idle Hands is moving forward

IDLE HANDS ONTARIO is getting some incredibly positive results -- both from government officials as well as the concerned public! Together, we have generated over 30,000 signed petitions, and those petitions have been integral in moving our campaign forward.

So, what have I been up to other than spreading awareness about the harms of car idling:

I have solidified a presentation to the Windsor Essex County Environmental Committee, speaking in front of elected officials:

Councillor Alan Halberstadt

Deputy Mayor Charlie Wright

Deputy Mayor Tamara Stomp, and

Councillor Hilary Payne

I have also solidified a presentation to the Kingston Environmental Advisor Forum, speaking in front of elected officials:

Councillor Sandy Berg

Councillor Rick Downes

Councillor Jim Neils, and

Councillor Jeff Scott

A Member of Provincial Parliament for Kitchener-Conestoga, Michael Harris, has agreed to read a statement in front of Ontario Legislature about Idle Hands' proposed mandate 

This is a great start for IDLE HANDS ONTARIO, and it has positively encouraged government officials to reevaluate idling policies. Thank you to everyone who has helped contribute; whether it be raising a hand, signing a petition, or reading an article about us in your local newspaper – it has all helped! Please keep checking my blog for future advances and outcomes from these meetings!

[idlehandsont]

"We have a vision. Kingston - Canada's most sustainable city. It is a vision that is fully expressed in the community-built Sustainable Kingston Plan"

Kingston is a beautiful city. It has so many green initiatives in place and a community that truly respects and encourages them. I have enjoyed talking to locals downtown and at Queen's University, and the credibility they have for their environmental impact. 

Locals are aware of the amount of unnecessary idling that takes place from municipal owned workers - police cars and public transit being on top of the list. 

I want locals to continually encourage and ask the people in power to change these bylaws - to look at these bylaws and update them to fully support the goal of Kingston: to be  Canada's most sustainable city. 

https://www.cityofkingston.ca/residents/environment-sustainability/sustainability

[idlehandsont]

“People lead by example. If there are bylaws in place stating that a vehicle cannot idle for more than one minute [as per the City of Toronto], then it should be a unified law for each vehicle across the board. Public buses, delivery trucks, police cars – these are our public servants who must be setting the example – not breaking it. It is 2013, not 1990. There are modern technologies in place to maintain cabin temperature control and on board computer systems - not to mention hybrids and electric cars. Idle Hands Ontario exists to raise awareness and ask the questions no one else is asking. Why do we continue to pollute the air we breathe? Why do we waste thousands of dollars on fuel? Why aren’t we investing that wasted money towards green technology and a more sustainable future? These are the questions we want asked, and we need all of the help we can get from the communities we live in to help support our cause.”

Meghan, Campaign Director

[idlehandsont]

There are anti-idling signs everywhere. And as a result, these signs have heavily influenced our idling statistics at a curbside level. So I'm not allowed to idle. My mom isn't allowed to idle. My boss isn't allowed to idle. My best friend isn't allowed to idle. So when I'm biking through the streets, or trying to take a bus to a concert, why do I see police cars, buses, garbage pickup trucks, delivery trucks, etc. all idling, all day long? I have sat on a park bench for hours on end just watching each bus stop at its bus route and leave its engine on for sometimes as long as 20 minutes. I have seen a bus- out of service with no driver inside- at Spadina station, idle for 15 minutes. It's like gas is a hot item that they're just giving away at the gas station. It's a shame our government isn't looking at the viable options to spend on green tech- because the initiatives out there are real, and they're much more real than the gas that is being given away at the local gas station. Idle Hands Ontario wants to see these initiatives being met, so anti-idling bylaws have a unified front. What's the point in implementing a law, when the list of exemptions far surpasses the vehicles that must abide by it?