Green Calgary

Participate as an individual, family or group

"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little " - Edmund Burke

Together we can make a difference! The City of Calgary calculates that if Calgarians reduced our idling time by just one minute per day, we would prevent more than 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from entering our atmosphere per year. We would also save almost 5 million litres of fuel.

Since we know even in freezing temperatures idling more than thirty seconds is not an effective means of warming up our engines, that idling costs us money by burning fuel, and that excessive idling can actually cause damage to our engines, why do we idle?

A big part of the problem is that there are many common misconceptions around idling: One such myth is that turning an engine on and off will cause wear to engine components. The truth is that modern batteries and starters are designed to undergo tens of thousands of restarts throughout their lifetimes. Restarting has such minimal impact that the costs of any potential component wear are more than made up for in fuel savings.

Perhaps the biggest misconception is that idling before you drive prevents engine damage. We need to get the word out that this is not true! Even in freezing temperatures, engines need no more than 30 seconds to warm up before driving begins. This leaves just enough time to brush the snow off your windows before driving away!

By signing up as an Idle Free Calgarian, you are contributing your small part to making a large change. Joining the Idle Free campaign is completely free.

The commitment that you make is simple:

I/We ________________________________________, commit(s) to being Idle Free. name/family/school/organization/business

This means I/we will not idle vehicle engines outside of traffic for more than one minute.

I/We would like to be recognized as Idle Free on Green Calgary's website. Yes___ No ___

Green Calgary will recognize your commitment towards reducing harmful emissions by providing you with an ultra-removable non-adhesive decal you can proudly display on your vehicle, at your workplace, your school, or your home. Sign up here.