Super Eco

Photo credit: Gaetan Lee, Flickr

Some 14,400 pollution-belching trucks chug past my children’s school each day, including my own. No, I'm not kidding. Our city has some of the worst air quality in the country; 15 percent of kids here have asthma. It’s easier to point the finger at the freeways and 18-wheelers hemorrhaging in and out of our backyard—the second busiest port in the U.S.—than at my own eco-idleness. But I’d be lying if I said I’m not guilty of adding to the toxic air my kids breathe near their school.

Where am I going with this? Straight to the carbon monoxide confessional apparently. My sin? Illegally double-parking outside my boys’ school at pick-up and drop-off times, my minivan engine idling all the while. That's 20 to 30 wasteful minutes spewing exhaust fumes dangerously close to their developing lungs—and everyone else’s—twice each day. I might as well drive one of those port porkers I loathe.

Wouldn’t I be just as damned if I stalked the block for the perfect parking spot? Sure, Al Gore will get right back to you on that. While you're waiting, consider these low-effort, low- to no-cost ways corner-cutting mamas like me can reduce the impact of our idle ways:

1. Kill the engine. Obviously. Shutting it off cuts down on global warming, wasted gasoline and potential damage to your engine. Leaving your vehicle on in park actually guzzles more gas than shutting it off and turning it back on.

2. Hoof it. If you live close enough, walk or ride a bike to your child’s school. Invest in a tandem family bike with the green you'll save on gas, and don’t forget the helmets. Teachers dig helmets. So do brains.

3. Hitch a ride or give one. Carpooling is my favorite (and easiest) form of mom-bartering. If you’re like me, you owe more than a few moms a favor or five. Pay them back by schlepping theirs, and maybe they’ll schlep yours. You’ll both get a break at the pump, and from those tedious pick-up/drop-off waiting lines.

4. Spread the word, not smog. Tell the whole minivan mafia about the hazards of idling in school zones. The school newsletter is a good start.  And I hear moms are pretty good at spreading rumors … but you didn’t hear that from me.