Vehicles create a grrgrrgrrgrrgrr sound when they’re munching on dead organisms – even when they’re parked. 

     “I went out [to the parking lot] one day and there was this person there idling in their car, and I was out there for a while. Then I had to go back in the building to get something,” environmental science teacher Gareth Engler said. “I don’t know if it was 45 minutes. I went back and it wasthe same one.”

     The impact of idling a vehicle, according to Engler, who mainly drives an electric car, is the releasing of carbon emissions. These carbon emissions, including carbon dioxide and methane, are contributing to global warming. He also says there is a reduction in air quality through carbon monoxide being released as well. 

     “[Y]ou can do this little thing for a little bit of comfort that’s putting a lot of greenhouse gasses out that have really major implications for our planet and people all over the world,” he said, in regards to the impact that idling a vehicle can have.

     Engler describes this comfort as being able to charge one’s phone and listen to music, and while he says his frustration is towards students, it’s also at society.

     “It’s just a sign of our decadence and our affluence that we can sit there and burn up fossil fuels for silly things like to sit in our vehicles and listen to music,” he said. “I mean lots of the people aren’t thinking about [how] they’re polluting. These [are] longer term things they’re not going to see in the moment.”