Air pollution outside schools
Air quality
There is overwhelming evidence that air pollution harms our health. Each year in the UK around 40,000 deaths are linked to poor air quality, and it is not something that affects just the big cities. Children are particularly vulnerable to this invisible danger as their organs and immune system are still developing.
Petrol and diesel engine vehicles are one of the main contributors to poor air quality. Our overly congested roads and unique geography contribute to a high level of pollution concentration in the BCP region.
Air pollution outside and around schools significantly increases at drop off and pick up times as a large number of vehicles gather at the same time. Many parents, when waiting or dropping off their children at the school gates, leave the engines of their cars idling when parked or stationary, rather than switching them off.
How to reduce pollution outside schools
Leaving a car engine idling whilst stationary for just one minute, produces the equivalent of 150 balloons worth of harmful chemicals per minute, including cyanide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. This unnecessarily produces pollution and toxins, as well as wasting expensive fuel. But it can be easily fixed by simply switching off your engine while waiting.
Our children deserve clean air to breathe.
Find out what you or your school can do to help improve air quality outside schools through our Clean Air for Schools initiative.