37. Don't leave the car running.

Don't leave a lot of things running. Don't leave the water running, don't leave your relay-race baton-passing partner running, don’t leave this sentence running…on. Full Stop. Even if your car is planning to run a race (and become one of our favorite palindromes: racecar), it still doesn’t benefit from the extra running (like humans do). 

And it’s just not nice to abandon anything that is running. 

Just don't do it.

To help you “Don’t leave the car running,” here’s a simple 2-step process:

1. If your car is running, and you’re at your destination, stop it. Just don’t.
2. Step out of the vehicle and proudly proclaim to anyone within earshot - “I stopped my car from running.” 

Your Future You will appreciate the effort, but more importantly, your future you will cherish the running energy you saved so it can be put to better future use - like running a charity event, running for school board vice-president or running for your life from a Silverback Gorilla.

P.S. - It’s been reported that Corporate Housing companies help people “Don’t leave the car running” by funding and tracking and public shaming them on the ThisPersonLeftTheCarRunning.com website.  It’s unclear how many corporate housing companies are associated with the website, but it is clear you don't want your name to idly appear on it.

This series is focused on Simple Sustainable Actions - based on Stephane Omsanski’s article in Parade from 2021.

https://parade.com/1300935/stephanieosmanski/ways-reduce-carbon-emissions/

37. Don't leave the car running.

Just don't do it.