Published: Tuesday, 1st June 2021

Warwick District Council is encouraging residents to ‘switch on’ to the positive impact of switching off their idling engine for Clean Air Day, which takes place on Thursday 17 June 2021.

Clean Air Day highlights the negative impacts of air pollution on health and the importance of everyone playing a part to improve the air we breathe. The Council is looking to build on last year’s campaign which targeted ‘fuelish’ idlers running their engine unnecessarily when stationary, especially around schools.

In addition to promoting the many health benefits of choosing a sustainable form of transport such as walking or cycling, the Council is working with local campaign groups Clean Air for Leamington and Clean Air Warwick to encourage behaviour change by asking residents to consciously ‘switch on’ to the idea of switching off their engine when stationary.

Local schools are encouraged to take part and visit the Clean Air Day website which has a wealth of resources available for schools and parents including posters, pledge cards and information on how to organise a ‘walking bus’. Amongst those taking part are Barford St. Peter’s C of E Primary School, Emscote Infant School, Coten End Primary School and Newburgh Primary School, all of which are planning a range of activities.

Other groups and businesses are also encouraged to think about how they can contribute to improving local air quality by sharing information about the negative impact of idling through their social media channels, and reminding their employees to switch off their engine when stationary. People can take inspiration from the Clean Air Day website which has a range of useful resources for individuals, health care professionals, community groups and businesses.   

Councillor Judy Falp, Portfolio Holder for Health and Community Protection said: “Contrary to popular belief, switching off your engine does not use more fuel or cause issues with the engine.

“It’s important for us all to ‘switch on to switching off’ and be consciously aware of the little changes we can make that will have a big impact on the air quality in Warwick district.”

“One minute of idling produces 150 balloons of harmful pollutants and ten seconds of idling wastes more fuel than restarting your engine. Our campaign isn’t anti-car. We understand that cars have their function in the 21st century. What we want is a simple habit change that can make breathing less dangerous”, says Ignaty Dyakov-Richmond of Clean Air for Leamington.

Councillor Alan Rhead, Portfolio Holder for Climate Change, added: “Behaviour change takes time and encouragement, and what better encouragement is there than improving the lives of our young ones by simply switching off your engine.

“People might also consider whether they can ditch the car completely for some journeys. As part of our work to improve the District’s air quality and make Warwick District carbon neutral by 2030, we have implemented a number of schemes to make the step towards sustainable travel so much easier.

“This includes the ‘Choose How You Move in Warwick District’ programme, which rewards users for choosing sustainable forms of transport with points they can redeem on the high street; and we have recently introduced an additional 50 electric charging sockets in our car parks across the district.

“Local businesses might also benefit from the Government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) funding to help them electrify their fleet of vehicles.”

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