Enviro-mental

It’s been cold in Canada for the last couple of weeks. And Canadian wisdom dictates several practices when it comes to driving in Canadian winters:

• Snow tires are a requisite for those who ski regularly, or for city folk worried their streets won’t be plowed;
• During a storm, windshield wiper blades should be lifted off the glass to prevent sticking, and
• Cars must be warmed up before embarking on a trip.

But apparently idling the engine is not only unnecessary but wasteful and polluting as well. The City of Toronto has an idling by-law, whereby vehicles are not permitted to idle for more than three minutes per hour. According to the city’s website, a gasoline engine burns about 3.5 litres of fuel per hour of idling, or about 3% of Ontario’s total fuel. And 10 seconds of idling uses more gas than restarting the engine.

Apparently driving the car at a slow speed for about five minutes warms it up faster, without detrimental effects.

If the idea of smog and greenhouse gases don’t turn you off idling, how about the idea that idling 10 minutes uses 20 cents of gas. Not a huge amount, but not insignificant for those who usually leave their cars on while they run into the store or put on their coats.