Back to School: Tell Your Child's School to Reduce Bus Emissions

It's time to head back to school! In the new few weeks, millions of children across North America will start stuffing their back to school supplies into their backpacks and heading out to the school bus stop. At the bus stop, they'll be greeted by an enormous, yellow vehicle aptly called "the school bus." And as this bus travels from neighborhood to neighborhood, shuttling your children to the local school, it emits tons of pollution and vehicle emissions.

Short of converting all the buses to hybrid, electric buses, school districts can still cut back on the pollution that their buses create every morning and afternoon. But schools won't change their environmental policies unless they hear from you! Parents need to write their public school districts and school officials to tell them that protecting the environment and battling global warming is as important as math, science and history!

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a branch of the U.S. federal government, has initiated a national school bus anti-idle campaign. According to the EPA's Clean School Bus USA, your school's idling school bus "pollutes the air, wastes fuel, and causes excess engine wear" (source).

But it's about more than just air pollution. This back-to-school season, an idling school bus can be harmful to your child's health! The EPA reports that exhaust from idling school buses parked outside of your kid's classroom can enter the building through doors, open windows and air intakes, causing significant health risks to school children (source).

Idling school buses also waste a lot of fuel, costing your child's school a lot of money and further endangering the environment. According to the EPA, a school bus engine burns through a whopping half a gallon of gas every single hour. That's a lot of money that schools are losing, and that's a lot of pollution and wasted oil.

What Can Schools Do to Protect The Environment?

This back-to-school season, encourage your school officials to keep their buses' engines off while they wait outside of the school for your children to be dismissed. Schools should draw up a green bus policy with guidelines for bus drivers that will protect children's health and protect the environment. The EPA recommends that buses should never have the engine on if they're not moving. The EPA also recommends that school buses shut down when loading or unloading children; that the school bus shouldn't be started until the bus is ready to actually leave; and that engine idling times be no more than 5 minutes.

Are Other Schools Protecting The Environment By Shutting Down Buses?

Yes! Numerous school districts all across North America have taken part in the Clean Bus USA initiative. Thanks to the urging of parents like you, dozens of schools have realized that school buses are a huge source of pollution and health risks to children, but that they can take measures to minimize the concerns (source).

Back to School? Make a Green Difference!

When your child heads back to school at the end of summer, do the green thing: Write to your school officials and tell them to cut back on idling buses. The environment will thank you, and so will your child.