Cleaner air for our future

The University partnered with Colchester Borough Council earlier this month to celebrate Clean Air Day and to raise awareness of the CAReless campaign. This campaign is urges drivers to adopt better driving habits and switch off their engines while they wait in traffic to reduce air pollution in the town.

We raised awareness of the health problems that are linked with air pollution and discussed ways in which the university community can help reduce air pollution. Air pollution reduces life expectancy and is linked to 1 in 20 deaths in Colchester. The main source of Colchester’s air pollution is exhaust fumes, namely Nitrogen Dioxide.

There are several myths around the effects that turning your engine has on cars:

Fiction: If I turn the engine on and off it uses more fuel.

Fact: According to the RAC, sitting with the engine running for 10 seconds uses more fuel than switching it off and on.

Fiction: I can’t switch the engine off as the battery needs to warm up.

Fact: Modern car batteries need less engine running time to work and don’t need the engine running constantly to keep them charged.

Fiction: If I switch my car on and off it is bad for the engine.

Fact: Leaving the engine idling dirties your engine with incomplete combustion, increasing wear and tear. Modern cars have much better ignitions and can be switched on and off without unnecessary wear on the engine.

By switching off your engine when idling you make a big difference to the air pollution in your community and help keep you and those around you healthy.

Sustainable travel and our e-cargo bike

We encourage our whole community to use sustainable methods of travel to get to and from campus. You can find out more here.

Staff are also free to use our e-cargo bike to move items across our Colchester Campus. It’s 270L cargo box can carry up to 100kg making it ideal for transporting things around campus in a quick, efficient and sustainable fashion. Bookings are available Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm in 1 hour slots, or you can book it for a whole day. Booking the e-cargo bike includes a fabric rain cover, bungee cables, cycle helmet, hi-vis jacket, front & rear lights, a lock and a simple training session from one of our expert team (training is for initial hire only which will also include a risk assessment.

You can book our e-cargo bike online, or if you have any questions please email travel@essex.ac.uk.