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Viking Elementary students involved in the Kids for Saving Earth Club have helped out a lot of environmental causes this year, donating money they’re raised to help snowy owls, gorillas and polar bears and to plant trees. They’ve been far from idle, obviously, and they don’t want car drivers idling either.

After reading an article about environmental activist Laurie David’s attempts to establish a “no idle zone” at her children’s school, the KSE Club members decided they should follow suit at Viking Elementary.

To finance signs for their “no idle zone” project, the club entered its idea in a La Crosse Tribune/Wal-Mart Go Green Contest, which offered a top prize of $250. The kids didn’t get first place, but they came in second, which meant a donation of $50 toward their “no idle zone” sign fund.

“The children are so excited,” said Viking teacher Cathy Burge, the club’s adviser. “They see this as their legacy, like a senior gift that will continue giving long after they have left Viking.”

After settling on a design by club member Ruth Ann Paulson, the club took it to Noffke Sign Co., where the $32 bill for a sign came in under budget. Owner Scott Kronn offered to donate the sign, but Burge said the kids insisted that they pay for it.

When the CEO and founder of Kids for Saving Earth, Tessa Hill, learned of the project, she not only granted permission to use the KSE logo, she also donated $100 to the sign fund, which will allow the club to get signage for other schools and maybe even other Holmen area businesses.

Hill also plans to advertise the signs for sale on the KSE Web site and will share proceeds with the Viking KSE Club, which could provide a steady income to fund the club’s environmental projects.

In addition to the sign, which was unveiled during the school’s Earth Day celebration last week, the KSE Club members also have taken other steps to educate people about how wasteful letting an engine idle can be — up to 10 percent of the motor vehicle fuel used in this country is wasted on idling. The club has put information in the school newsletter and there’s a brochure in the works about how wasteful engine idling is.

“This is going very well. It is an example of why KSE is so powerful,” she said. “Children can make a difference.”