April 17, 2020
By John Hankins
When Amelia Beving was searching around for a project that has a lasting impact on the world, it appeared like smoke right in front of her.As she walked outside the Cabrillo Middle School to be picked up, she “noticed the cars idling and smelled the cars which are poisoning our lungs.” Amelia said some parents sit idling in their gasoline cars for 10, 15, 20 minutes or more.
What started out as her project to gain the coveted Girl Scouts Silver Award has now become reality at Cabrillo. And while the schools are closed now due to Covid-19 virus, the signs are still up, and the parents’ pledges are locked in when they reopen. Amelia’s efforts have resulted in a website that has information and links that other schools can use: www.NoIdlingProject.com
The project includes banners at parking lot entrances, a parental pledge sheet, information that goes home with all students, and flyers handed out by the students to parents still choosing to idle.
But one day after Amelia installed the first "No Idling" banner at her school, “some jerk cut down one of the banners at Amelia’s school in defiance and shredded it,” said Gene Rubin, a parent and EV Advocates member who helped Amelia purchase the signs. The Los Padres Sierra Club also contributed to the purchase. Rubin has since acquired metal signs bolted into place and not so easy to destroy.
“The good news is that I roamed the pickup lines and parking lot at the end of the school day and people en-masse were not idling but had their windows open instead. Many parents have signed and returned the pledge sheets already,” Amelia said.
Cabrillo principal Lorelle Dawes was ecstatic over the project and hoped “it could migrate to other schools.” She believes “the education piece of it is valuable, especially when a student takes ownership of a project.” Dawes said the Girl Scout project is under the ASB club’s Teen Voice which is a partnership with the city.
Others who helped were some 20 Teen Voice members and her friend Natalie S., and Amelia’s mom Jayne Turcotte.
“At first it was a lot of research, and in October I was handing out informative flyers to parents after school,” Amelia said.
Her research found that the Environmental Protection Agency had a Healthy Schools toolkit on its website, which includes downloadable pdfs on idling and pledge sheets.
Other websites which have excellent information are:
Parents are welcoming the project with many signing the pledge. "I now turn off my engine every time I am waiting in the pickup line for my daughter. Thank you!” said Lori D.
Amanda is in good company with her campaign. Recently a New York Times headline blared “Idol, with a Rebel Yell, Headlines Campaign Against Idling Vehicles”. That would be the singer Billy Idol, who publicly and with music blaring supported New York city’s ongoing campaign to reduce idling that has a fine attached.
“I need my lungs to breathe and sing,” Idol told the crowd. The campaign has a catchy name: “Billy Never Idles. Neither Should You.”
There’s also a documentary with a lot of humor entitled “Idle Threat” by George Pakenham, a “Man on Emission.” 
He’s a New York attorney who “walked the streets of New York for over five years, courteously confronting over 3,000 motorists to explain idling’s impact and the law prohibiting running a parked vehicle for more than a short time.” It features Click and Clack from NPR’s Car Talk and is available on YouTube; just type in “Idle Threat the movie” and a short and long (1 hour) video pops up.