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Ed Yeates Reporting Pollution is more than just a dirty word. In Utah's Cache Valley students are taking it upon themselves to literally knock it down. What they're doing is a breath of fresh air!
At a frigid four degrees, we pulled into Mountain Crest High School in Hyrum early this morning to see quite a spectacle. Students were standing at street side, directing car-poolers to a specific lane.
Others directed bus riders and walkers to a table. This is "incentive" day, and it happens weekly. Those electing to carpool, walk, or ride the bus get rewards, like candy, hot chocolate, raffle tickets that let them win iPods, ski passes, and movie tickets donated by the community. For the "Planeteers," as they call themselves, this is a peer to peer campaign.
Madison Pope, Mountain Crest Planeteers: "If everybody in the valley, if they parked their cars one day a week, that they would save 375-thousand tons of air pollution from going into the air a year."
Students can accumulate five points per day on their track records and earn even more prizes.
The high school love affair with automobiles is a big thing, but for Mountain Crest Mustangs, pollution in their valley is bigger.
Loren Peck, Car Pooler: "Everyone's super excited about it. It's really cool to see people who will drive to school every day in a carpool or walk, even ride the bus, which is really unusual."
Jessica Briscoe, Carpooler: "It's just really fun to help the air while being with all your friends. I think it's worth it because we're doing something to know you can make a difference."
In the end, is this somewhat idealistic campaign really paying off? Jack Robinson says students tell him the message is more than just idealistic.
Jack Robinson, Principal: "If we don't control this pollution now, someone will step in, as they should -- more vehicle controls, more emission controls, testing. And that costs money out of their pocketbooks."
Other schools are doing the same thing, like Idaho's Preston High just over the border. It's a younger, pro-active generation perhaps teaching a lesson to all of us.
The Bear River Health Department, which is a partner in these campaigns, is measuring some -differences. For example, there's been as much as a 30 percent reduction in cars parked at Mountain Crest.
