South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils have launched a competition for primary school children to design a superhero to tackle air pollution. The councils will be giving a new Micro scooter* as a top prize to one winner in each district.
Children can draw their superheroes or create them as models. The judges are looking for a hero who can easily get about without using cars and whose superpowers can help make our air cleaner and clearer.
The competition is part of the council’s air quality campaign called Turn It Off which is primarily aimed at drivers who let their vehicles engines idle while they are waiting for passengers – often waiting outside schools.
Air pollution is created from pollutants getting into the air. Petrol and diesel vehicles emit pollutants from their exhaust pipes into the air. Increased traffic means increased air pollution.
These air pollutants are linked to a higher chance of developing lung cancer, heart disease, asthma, coughs and bronchitis, particularly in vulnerable people such as older people and children.
Keeping the engine running – known as idling – while parked at the side of the road, sitting in traffic, or waiting to collect someone, contributes to an increase in levels of air pollutants.
According to information from DEFRA, if a vehicle engine is turned off and restarted after a minute or more this will result in less pollution than if the vehicle was idling for that time.
Cllr Catherine Webber, Vale of White Horse District Council cabinet member for the Climate Emergency and the environment said: “Air pollution is a serious risk to everyone’s health, but particularly to vulnerable people such as the elderly and young children.
“It’s so important we tackle this issue and one of the ways we can do this is to continue with our campaign to make residents – of all ages – aware of how important it is we reduce our use of pollutant-emitting vehicles where we can.”
Cllr David Rouane South Oxfordshire District Council cabinet member for housing and the environment said: “This competition is fun but it is also designed to make children aware of the issue of air pollution and ways to reduce it.
“However, you don’t have to be a superhero to help tackle air pollution. Turning off engines when parked is a superpower we all have.”
More info on Turn it Off.
