http://www.ct.gov/dep/idlingisfuelish - To help separate idling fact from legend, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) commissioned its own "mythbusting" team and is show casing the findings in a video parody of the popular television show, "Mythbusters."
Like their Discovery Channel counterparts, the "scientists" at work in the DEP production, "Wastebusters - Idling Myths" conduct rigorous experiments and analysis to definitively prove that idling vehicles do waste gas and unnecessarily pollute the air.
DEP will also be making the video available to schools, driving schools and other places where it will help spread the word about the environmental and health effects of idling. In conjunction with the release of Wastebusters, DEP also unveiled a new feature on its web site with facts, figures and comprehensive information about idling. These pages can be found at www.ct.gov/dep/idlingisfuelish
The four-minute Wastebusters show was produced by the Corporate Media Center at Middlesex Community College (MXCC), Middletown.
DEP Commissioner Gina McCarthy said, The Wastebusters video may be a bit light-hearted, but it deals effectively with the deadly serious issue of idling. As the show makes clear, every time someone leaves a car, truck or bus running they are consuming precious fuel and putting pollution into the air.
It is technically against the law to idle a vehicle for more than three minutes in Connecticut and for good reason, McCarthy said. It is wasteful and it endangers the health of our citizens. We thank our friends at Middlesex Community College for their work in helping us produce this show, which will go a long way in educating the public about this issue.
Wastebusters stars three MXCC students who are interns at the colleges Corporate Media Center. They are: David Therault of Waterbury, a Jamie Hymeman look-alike; Lloyd Langevin of Wallingford, who plays an Adam Savage type-sidekick; and Lili Kinsman of Durham, who is featured as a Lola,a Kari Byron-esque Mythbuster.
The script was written by Dan Nocera and student Lili Kinsman, in consultation with staff of the DEPs Bureau of Air Management.
During the production, the rigorous scientific tests conducted by the Wastebusters team show that an hour of idling wastes one-fifth of a gallon of gasoline. They are then able to calculate that if the 2.3 million passenger vehicles in Connecticut idled five minutes less each day, millions of gallons of fuel would be saved every year.
The second round of tests conducted in the show conclusively demonstrate that idling cars emit more fumes and pollutions than cars at rest. The Wastebusters team calculates that if every Connecticut driver were to idle five minutes less each day it would reduce green house gases and toxic emissions by more than 140,000 tons. That is the equivalent of taking 23,000 cars off the road.
DEP and the MXCC Media Center have a history of collaboration on video projects it is a partnership that has produced three award-winning videos. The three projects include: a training video for members of municipal inland wetland commissions; a presentation on organic land care for municipal officials; and a look at the people and work of the DEP that is used for educational and recruiting purposes called What is the DEP? That video can also be viewed at www.ct.gov/dep.
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