Do you often leave your vehicle’s engine idling when parked? Idling your car, or running the engine when the vehicle is not in motion, is not as harmless as it seems. Did you know that two minutes spent idling burns as much gas as 1 mile of driving? Idling can produce more tailpipe emissions per minute than driving, causing negative effects to public health (especially kids’ developing lungs). Further, idling vehicles are especially attractive to thieves — nearly half of the vehicle thefts in St. Louis Park in 2020 were vehicles left idling unattended.

Idling contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. If St. Louis Park drivers chose to cut out 16 minutes of idling per day, more than 13,000 tons of carbon dioxide could be eliminated every year — the equivalent to carbon dioxide of 1,500 homes’ energy use for one year.

The next time you’re picking something up curbside or sitting in a parking lot, try shutting off your engine. Shutting off and restarting your vehicle has little impact on the engine and uses less fuel – more than 10 seconds of idling uses more gas than restarting!

Visit iturnitoff.com to learn more about idling and explore idling reduction messages to share with your friends or family.