Turn it Off

To begin, collaborators collected information, through review of existing research, on why and when drivers choose to idle their automobiles rather than to turn them off. Key motivators structuring the communication strategies at the centre of Turn it Off included:

• believing that turning off your vehicle engine while parked was "the right thing to do"
• having friends and family who turn off their vehicle engines while parked
• believing that turning off an idling engine whenever possible saves significantly on gasoline costs
• believing that one should turn off a vehicle engine even for very short stops.

Barriers to these motivators were identified; community-based social marketing (CBSM) strategies were then developed to address them. These strategies included prompts to remind people to do something that they might otherwise forget due to convenience or laziness, the sharing of information to offset false beliefs (such as that idling uses less gasoline than re-starting), and obtaining a commitment by developing community norms that made individual drivers responsible for broader social and health aims.

The participation of the community was, in fact, a key strategy in trying to change what had become a common and habitual - yet environmentally harmful - behaviour. Turn it Off held three focus groups to explore awareness and knowledge levels and to obtain feedback on the proposed strategies and communications materials for the programme. Based on this concrete community feedback, specific communication methods were developed. These included: temporary "no idling" signs mounted on concrete bases at drivers' eye-level where drivers most often idled; "no idling" window stickers which pledged "For our air: I turn my engine off when parked"; and an information card to be given out to motorists suggesting that turning off an engine while stopped would save money, reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and care for the air.

Printed prompts and information were supplemented by interpersonal, face-to-face requests for commitment. Project monitors approached the drivers of stopped cars that were idling, speaking with them through their window using a pre-determined "script". After discussing the environmental impacts of vehicle idling, the monitor would request that the driver commit to turn off his or her vehicle while stopped. Drivers who agreed were given a see-through "commitment sticker" for their vehicle window - to serve both as a reminder to continue the behaviour and as a (motivational) sign of their pledge to take positive environmental action along with their neighbours - and an information card.

Environment.

Turn it Off led to a reduction of engine idling incidence by 27% and idling duration by 78% overall, compared to the control sites. At school sites the combination of signs and commitment reduced vehicle idling by 51% and duration by 72%, relative to the control sites. At transit sites the combination of signs and commitment reduced vehicle idling by 27% and duration by 38%, relative to the control sites. The use of prompts only (no commitment) was less effective.