| Welcome to DADA! |
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DADA's website and introduction DADA is an attempt by parents like you, to empower other parents, to take simple steps to reduce local pollution caused by idling vehicles. We give an 'excuse' and make it easy for individuals to reach out to others in order to ask them to stop idling their cars, trucks and buses. That is what DADA is all about. We will leverage the internet and networking of like-minded individuals to empower others to do it together. Momentum and group effort, with a consistent message and strategic approach. Our public outreach concept is simple. We printed up thousands of business card pledge cards. Then we give one card to an individual followed by 3 other cards. We tell them that we are parent volunteers that are wanting to reach out to the community for the health and safety of our children, as well as for the environment, and would like to give them one of these cards which asks for a pledge 'not to idle our vehicles'. If receptive, we then offer 3 more cards to them and ask them to pass them on to 3 others at work, school or to their neighbours. Frequently, an individual will read the card and comment what a good idea this is. They will think about the approach taken and want to do this as well. They will ask for more cards to take to work or hand out to neighbours. Those people are DADA's like you and me. They see people idling and 99% of us don't do anything about it because its very uncomfortable to approach people and ask them to turn off their engines. BUT with a simple, softsell approach and a request to do this for the health of our children, there is no reason not to do it. When looking at the BIG picture, the climate is in trouble and the planet is sick. The cause is our long time societal consumption and wasteful habits. Looking at the SMALL picture, it is our kids and their future years. Climate change is so gradual that we don't accept the warning signs. A telling example was the family that was crying after loosing their homes after hurricane Katrina. They couldn't believe what happened, yet behind them were a couple large SUV's empty and idling which showed a clear example how we are hurting ourselves and the planet and are totally unaware of it. People ask, ' What can I do about this environmental thing'? It is SO big and overwhelming. What can I do? " My response is to do all you can to learn how to reduce waste and our impact on the environment, then start your action plan today. Small steps add up. I also recommend that everyone dedicate some of their time to cleaning up the mess, from cleaning up the parks, carpooling to work or taking transit, or focus your time on one small issue, that in numbers has a real impact on the environment. This has proven successful and is starting a trend. We are at the beginning mind you but its a start. This website is being created to help maintain the momentum and to ask others to join in and show them how to do it. We will fill the site with data and opinions from Medical professionals as well as mechanincs to handle many of the myths and excuses related to air pollution and idling of our vehicles. ( and there are many!) We will offer research reports from many sources for your review so if you want the facts and are a details person, then the many fine publications should satisfy your hunger. My only request is that don't analyse things to death. At some point we all have to say, enough talk, lets do something about this. Get through the politics, the bureacracy, the fears of failure and just do something - anything - to start. Our main goal is to reduce localized pollution caused by mankind, in particular from our own vehicles. Ideally, no cars would be best, but in our society built around mobility, this is very difficult to do. BUT there are other OPTIONS we have instead. For example, if you do need to commute to work, try a month of carpooling with neighbours to see how it goes. If you need to buy a car, buy a hybrid or a small fuel efficient vehicle that emits less pollution and saves you $10-20,000 in fuel over the next 10 years. or take transit and sit back and let the chauffer drive. Driving is somewhat necessary for companies to move products and for homeowners. BUT we can reduce our wasteful habits in how we drive. North American drivers consume 40% more fuel PER MILE than drivers in Europe for example. Why? Because we driver bigger vehicles like SUV's when a European family would drive a small car. Plus our poor driving habits are also less efficient than in Europe. One component of this is the idling of our vehicles. In Europe, most drivers do not idle, truck and bus drivers shut off the engines when stopped and they drive efficiently avoiding jackrabbit starts. There is no reason that we Canadians and Americans cannot do this! We are just as smart as they are! We have access to the same vehicles they do and we all have the same technology - the key - but we need the technological knowhow as well - the wisdom to know what to do and to try our best. If we do all this, then we can breathe easier knowing that we are better stewards of the environment, taking care of our children's future, preventing illnesses of our family and others and are showing a common courtesy to others who are around us at the time. Other benefits of not idling include: - saving $100 to $200 a year on fuel costs ( depending on driving) We are slowly accumulating tonnes of resources and research reports and materials and we will make everything available on this website for you. --------- The key to gettting things done is ACTION! This website will provide information and resources to help other parents, schools and organizations with their desire to start a no idling campaign and outreach program. There have been enough studies, research reports and recommendations made through all levels of Government and organizations. Unfortunately things get bogged down because everyone is so busy writing reports and investigating options. Thanks for visiting. Now let's do something about the problems....get ready, we are about to begin.... |
