“It’s hard not to act when you see kids asking you to think about your actions, especially when you have kids of your own,” Mike Velemirovich says, referring to a video presented by The Children’s Clean Air Network. The video features kids from an elementary school in Hammonds Plains explaining the myths and facts about idling cars and the impact on their future.Velemirovich is the owner of Hillcrest Volkswagen in Halifax. “We used to warm up and idle 50 to 60 cars on the lot every cold day. We’ve cut out that practice with no difference to our business except that we’ll save $3,000 every year. And we expect we’ll cut nine tonnes of greenhouse gas annually. I’m thrilled,” Velemirovich says.
“At my kids’ school, I continually see 20 to 30 parents idling. It’s such a waste. I’ve noticed that a lot of my kids’ friends have asthma, they’re coughing. So I’m pleased to partner with The Children’s Clean Air Network and adopt schools to go ‘idle free’. At Westmount School near our dealership in Halifax, we’ll be paying for signs and helping educate parents on idling. I see my car-dealer friends doing the same,” Velemirovich says.
Velemirovich is the incoming president of The Nova Scotia Automobile Dealer's Association. His example should have an important ripple-effect within the business community and the car-dealer industry.
See and hear Mike’s reasons for going IDLE-FREE in this brief video:
See and hear one of Mike’s service technicians debunking the three myths about idling in this brief video:
