Girl Scouts Go Green
Girl Scouts from a number of towns in
New Jersey are working to make their schools “idle-free” from car emissions. In Cherry Hill, Girl Scouts Shelby Robbins and Brooke Godorov have been working with their troop on an idle-free project in the township schools. Shelby said she first became interested in creating idle-free schools as part of a school project. “I told my Juniors troop about the problem and they all wanted to help too,” she said. “So we worked on posters and asked our school principal if we could hang them up around the school. We also sent home literature to our classmates' parents.”
Vehicle emissions are a major contributor to air pollution and have been linked to asthma symptoms, cardiopulmonary disease, lung cancer and other serious health problems. Idling cars at school are especially problematic as children are more vulnerable to air pollution than adults.
The group Sustainable Cherry Hill was also working on idle free zones within the community. Teaming up with Mike Richter, a respiratory therapist, fellow Girl Scout Brooke Godorov, and Lori Braunstein from Sustainable Cherry Hill, Shelby met with Mayor Bernie Platt to ask his support for a clean air enforcement initiative. In particular, they sought local enforcement of a state law which limits vehicle idling to a maximum of three minutes for both
