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Kyle Huynh
Communication 1050
December 5, 2013
Comprehensive Final Examination
Case Study
In 2010, air pollution caused 1.2 million premature deaths in China. That’s 40% of the
total deaths from air pollution globally. There are many ways reduce air pollution. The most
important place to start is near schools. Did you know that children breathe 50% more air than
adults? That means children are inhaling more hazardous chemicals which could ultimately lead
to a premature death. Automobile plays a large factor in air pollution. The good news is that
there are many ways to effectively eliminate air pollution. In this report, I have analyzed ways to
ultimately reduce the hazardous air pollution in the state of Utah. I followed a clear guideline
instructed by the superintendent of the Salt Lake District.
If it is possible to avoid vehicle exhaust, do it! Three pounds of emissions is being
generated by one car every month just by dropping a child off at school. Imagine what that does
to the children? In addition, imagine tens of thousands of cars releasing three pounds of
emissions each month just for dropping a child off in the Wasatch Front. Air pollution is bad for
children, adults, and the environment. The one of the main reason for global warming is because
of the carbon dioxide emissions caused by the burning gasoline in automobiles. Motorized
vehicles cause 33% of emissions in the U.S. It is important for parents to turn off their cars when
dropping of their child at school or picking them up. Idling is a serious element of poor air
quality. The average idling time at elementary schools is currently four minutes. Idling gets you
nowhere, and this is meant in a literal sense. That four minute combined with the four minutes of
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thousands of other cars can prove fatal. It will drastically contribute to poor health, especially
among young children. Over the last decade residents of Utah have increased their driving by
more than 70%. At this rate, children will be suffering health complications if they make it to
adulthood.
There are significant benefits from shutting off engines while waiting to pick-up or dropoff children. One benefit is saving gas, and lots of it. The four minutes that parents use to idle
burns enough gas to drive eight miles. Considering that parents does this five times a week for a
month, they are burning 160 miles worth of gas. In a year, that’s almost 2000 miles worth of gas
burned for absolutely no reason. Now where does this gas end up? In the lungs of defenseless
children who are victims of hazardous air pollution. Another benefit would be the amount of
money people save from turning off their engines when picking up their children. 3.8 million
gallons of fuel is wasted every day just by idling. That’s 13 million dollars wasted every day and
4.745 billion dollars wasted in a year. Idling is linked to increases in asthma, allergies, heart
disease, lung disease, and cancer. As stated before, children are especially vulnerable because
they inhale 50% more air than adults, and idling mainly occurs near schools or the drive thru.
Every parent wants their children to be the next Albert Einstein or president. Turning off their
engines with a turn of a key can be a huge different maker. Breathing exhaust fumes from cars
can damage brain cells and may be linked to autism. Utah has the highest autism rate in the
United States. One out of 47 children are diagnosed with autism. In addition, in northern Utah,
where most Utahns live, has the worst air quality in the nation. A study conducted in New York
City indicated that children with a greater exposure to combustion engine byproducts had lower
IQs. It is not hard to understand the issue or resolve it; parents needs to stop idling and that’s it.
These are not the only benefits of turning off engines when picking up or dropping off children
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from school. It improves everyone’s health, better for the engine, quieter, it doesn’t stink, and it’s
easy.
As director of this program against idling, it is my duty to improve the health of current
and future generations; that includes offering free incentives. With a budget of $5300, I will need
to carefully plan an effective solution to resolving this issue. One cheap and effective solution is
to team up with local car washes around the Wasatch Front. Every school day, we will have an
administrator hand out three free drive through car wash coupons to different parents at every
school in the Salt Lake District that has their car turned off. This program runs until the first of
July meaning that this incentive would cost roughly $2000 leaving the program with $3200 to
spend. In addition, this program will do monthly drawings to give out five free oil changes. This
would cost $700 to initiate, leaving the program with $2500 to spend. The great thing about these
incentives are that it helps keep the parent’s automobile in good shape and cleans the
environment.
With only 30 days to distribute the “anti-idling time information” to every parent and bus
drives in the Salt Lake District, I advise that we spend $50 to design a professional online
information sheet to email to every parent and bus driver. Also, we will spend another $50 to
print out copies to keep in the front office of schools for anyone that wants a printed copy. This
leaves our budget at $2400, which is still plenty. As the director of this program, I believe that
there must be more ways to advertise this campaign while giving people more rewards. After
careful consideration, I have teamed up with a local t-shirt design company to produce “antiidling” t-shirts to hand out to some parents and children. This would roughly cost $2000 for 200
t-shirts but since this is for a good cause, the local t-shirt design company will double the t-shirts
we purchase from them which will then give us 400 t-shirts. The total amount of money left for
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the campaign is $400. With only a few hundred left, we will print posters, signs, information
cards, and post them around all the schools in the Salt Lake District to let anyone that walks by
remember the benefits of anti-idling.
After careful planning, this will help reduce the idling times from parents’ automobiles
by 50 percent or more. This campaign will likely get news coverage and the effects of this antiidling campaign will spread across the nation, influencing parents, children, drivers, schools, and
the general public. I believe that other schools will set up similar campaigns at their own expense
to help a great cause. This campaign will be the difference maker in changing the air quality to
help the children live in a nation where air can be inhaled without causing health problems. This
is my proposition and campaign to successfully reducing the idling time of parents to repair the
air pollution crisis.
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Works Cited
"Global Warming Effects and Causes: A Top 10 List." Planet Save. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec.
2013.
Lyon, Julia. "Utah Has Nation's Highest Autism Rate, CDC Report Says." The Salt Lake
Tribune. N.p., 30 Mar. 2012. Web. 06 Dec. 2013.
"Northern Utah's Air Is the Worst in the Nation." KSL Local News. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec.
2013.
"10 Reasons to Turn Off an Idling Car." Sustainable America. N.p., 24 May 2013. Web. 06 Dec.
2013.