A Blackburn schoolboy is on a mission to tackle climate change – knocking on one car window at a time!
Muhammad Abdulrashid, aged 10, was determined to do something after overhearing a conversation about engine idling between his dad, community stalwart, Faz Patel MBE, and his local councillor, Phil Riley.
He was so shocked to hear about the devastating impact that idling can have on children’s health and the planet that he knew he had to do something.
Inspired to make a difference, Muhammad took it upon himself to start knocking on car windows outside his school asking the drivers there to turn off their engines.
It proved so successful that he’s been knocking on car windows everywhere he goes including outside supermarkets, places of worship and more.
Watch Muhammad’s video message:
Muhammad, who suffers from asthma himself, explained:
I knock on people’s car windows and politely ask them to turn off their engines.
When they leave their engines running when they’re stopped, not only are drivers harming the climate, they’re also impacting on air pollution and affecting people’s lives too.
When I knock on the windows, I ask them to turn off their engines because it’s really easy to do and can help make a really big difference.
The drivers are always welcoming when I speak to them and quickly turn their engines off. It’s a really nice feeling to help make a change.
The Royal College of Physicians estimates that 400,000 deaths a year in the UK are linked to air pollution, with engine idling contributing to this.
Engine idling is when a vehicle is left running while it’s stationary with more than a quarter of those caught doing it outside schools.
Idling is dangerous because it increases the amount of exhaust fumes in the air – in fact, research shows idling cars produce twice the emissions than a moving car.
These fumes contain a number of harmful gasses including carbon dioxide, which is bad for the environment and contributes towards climate change, as well as a range of other harmful gasses including nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons which are linked to asthma and other lung diseases.
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