Drive it down! Measuring and mitigating school-gate transport emissions

The Project

The Drive it Down project will install atmospheric greenhouse gas sensors at the gates of participating Auckland and Wellington schools , capturing the emissions patterns from school drop-off and pick-up during term time and school holidays. The data will be used to make the ‘invisible’ visible for the students, to inspire them on a mission to squash their emissions peak through a school-wide active transport campaign. 

Carbon cycle teaching resources

The project has developed a carbon cycle literacy teaching package, to build students’ understanding of the carbon cycle and to support further inquiry. This includes a booklet and game-based tools. These resources are freely available for the public to download, and will also help the teachers and students from the participating schools interpret and understand the emissions data from their school gate. 

Atmospheric greenhouse gas sensors connected to international network

The greenhouse gas sensors are connected to the BEACO₂N (Berkeley Environmental Air-quality & CO₂ Network), an initiative to help understand greenhouse gas emissions in near real-time. Data from the sensor is sent to University of California Berkeley to be calibrated and is then analysed by GNS Science carbon cycle scientists in Wellington.

The project team will present baseline data to the students, showing the results from term-time and the school holidays, and following the student’s behaviour change active transport campaign. 

Student-led behaviour change campaigns

The project team will support teachers and students through an inquiry learning project about transport behaviour and emissions, and strategies to lower emissions. To influence their school community’s behaviour students will be guided through social science methodologies to conduct surveys, research different transport alternatives, consider safety, and problem solve. They will plan an active transport campaign for the school, analyse their results and present recommendations to the school.

Meadowbank School Pilot Project

Drive it Down builds upon the success of a pilot project with Meadowbank School in Auckland in 2023.

GNS Science carbon cycle scientists installed the atmospheric greenhouse gas sensor at the Meadowbank School gate, and the data gathered showed spikes in CO₂ and CO concentration in the morning that were much greater during term time compared to school holidays, indicating the daily school-run was the culprit.

Year 6 Enviro leader students took action with a two-week schoolwide festival of active transport activities, including a ‘Glam your Wheels’ day for scooters and bikes, ‘Wear What Ya Want Walking Wednesday’, and a ‘Feel Good Friday’ to encourage groups of kids to walk to school together.

The GNS Science team continued to measure the greenhouse gas concentrations across the two-week campaign and found that the efforts of the school community had brought it down to school holiday levels.