Chapel Hill students lead campaign to reduce vehicles' carbon emissions

It all began last spring at Phillips Middle School when some students there learned about the environmental impact of idling vehicles.

Malcolm Meyn, an eighth grader, and his “Green Team Club” members decided to build an awareness campaign after noticing idling cars and buses at his school.

“A lot of parents are idling,” he said. “Because of the temperature and they want to have the radio going in the car.”

He and other students created The Green Team Club, which aims to help students brainstorm and form a strategy to limit harmful vehicle emissions.

“We thought an educational campaign for the community would be a great way for them to take action,” said Mary Parry, a parent who is in the club.

They chose the slogan “Driving is Exhausting,” and it features a series of signs that now appear at every school in the Chapel Hill schools district.

“There are different versions,”, she said. "With the back side, one is about health and one is about climate change."

One health message is a reminder that “car exhaust is harmful and can make asthma worse.”

Another says, “Idling gets you nowhere and fuels climate change.”

Their larger message is on the club’s website and spread via social media.

The sites spell out the invisible particles in vehicle emissions and the cumulative environmental impact that comes from driving vehicles.

The smaller issue is where the Green Team members felt they could make a positive difference.

On their website, they include a pledge for visitors to sign.

It is the same pledge with which students have approached parents and bus drivers that asks motorists to turn off the engine while they wait at local schools.

It’s not an issue most of the students were aware of before the campaign.

“A lot of people learned about the issue of idling,” said student Ryan Johnson, who is in the eighth grade.

Pri Finkral, who is in the sixth grade said: “I'm definitely more aware of this. At first, I didn't even know what idling was.”

They suspected that cutting down on idling from vehicles could make a difference.

Malcolm Meyn knew that they could never be sure until they actually tested it.

“It's interesting to see how much that contributes to the pollution," he said. "When we did do the air quality test, we really saw that. So we hope this message really gets out there.”