Bus emissions have been a problem in Utah. The Beehive State received poor rankings in the School Bus Pollution Report Card 2006, researched by the Union of Concerned Scientists and endorsed by the American Lung Association, for hazardous emissions in school bus fleets. The report said the average Utah school bus releases 19.6 pounds of soot into the air each year — 150 percent more pollution per mile than a tractor-trailer truck.

Districts have worked to curb pollution. Jordan District has 44 natural gas buses — about 15 percent of its fleet — Davis is using a retrofits grant to reduce bus emissions, and every new school bus must meet EPA standards for clean emissions.

But cutting idling also can help — and not just on buses.

Moms and dads are being targeted, too, by their own kids.

Morningside and Emerson elementary students have been timing cars to see how long they idle to raise awareness as part of asking parents to kill the engine while they wait.

Morningside's project started two years ago, when students passed out "Stop, Turn Off and Save" stickers and even wrote a no-idling song, sixth-grade teacher Patti White said. Now, students have sent home fliers and are designing a logo for a parking lot kill-the-engine banner.

Rowland Hall developed a campus no-idling policy about 18 months ago, head of school Alan Sparrow said. Teams there are renewing an awareness campaign, with "Curb Your Carbon" rearview mirror tags — a reminder to turn off cars after 10 seconds of idling. The group Utah Moms for Clean Air also has gotten involved in such efforts.

"I think everyone recognizes that the particulates in the air are particularly bad for children," Sparrow said. "You're creating a mini version of that in front of the school when you have 40 or 50 cars lined up, just running."

And when they're not running, it's an obvious difference.

Two weeks into its latest campaign, Morningside parking lot carbon monoxide emissions were cut in half, sixth-grader Danielle Parker said.

"We're liking that."

Those at Coral Cliffs Elementary in St. George let their noses tell the difference.

"It doesn't stink as bad when you go outside," said secretary Julie Bishop. "It's been nice."

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E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com