Green Calgary

Tips

Category: Air Quality


Aug
31
2011

Get your School to go Idle-Free!

Filed in: Air Quality, Transportation

Tragically, one of the most common places to find idling cars is outside of schools. Parents and guardians, waiting to drop off or pick up their children, unwittingly release over 40 harmful toxins into the air in and around the school. This means that many of the air pollutants being released every day in the city are concentrated around the people most easily affected by it: children.

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Jul
29
2011

Ride your Bike!

Filed in: Air Quality, Transportation

Many people are nervous about starting to bike commute to and from work, so why not ease into it by taking your bike somewhere like the grocery store or the movies- see how you like it and go from there.

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Mar
16
2009

Sign up to be Idle Free

Filed in: Air Quality, Transportation

Although most people realize that engine exhaust decreases outdoor air quality, they probably do not realize that an idling engine actually releases more harmful emissions than an engine does during driving!

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Dec
15
2008

Clean or change your furnace filter

Filed in: Air Quality, Energy, Products & Services
  • A clean furnace filter will help to minimize your energy costs in the winter and maximize the efficiency of the furnace.
  • For the best results, a furnace filter should be replaced or cleaned once a month, especially during the winter months.
  • Reusable furnace filters are the best way to reduce waste and save money. If you have a replaceable filter, find out if a reusable option exists.

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Oct
15
2007

Help to stop idling and idling myths

Filed in: Air Quality, Transportation
  • Idling for 10 seconds uses more fuel than restarting your engine.
  • Frequently turning off and restarting a vehicle has little impact on a vehicle’s battery or starter motor. Component wear caused by restarting an engine adds little to annual repair costs – and can be recovered several times over in fuel savings from reduced idling.
  • Idling produces more emissions per minute than driving.
  • Driving is the best way to heat up your engine. A vehicle’s catalytic converter needs to be hot (400 to 800 degrees Celsius) before it can effectively clean pollutants from its exhaust.
  • Traffic areas around schools – where vehicles are often left idling – often show significantly higher pollution levels outside – and inside – their buildings.
  • Calgary has the highest transportation-generated carbon dioxide emissions of any city in Canada.

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