How “Healthy” is Your Childcare Facility?

So, you recycle, use CFLs, non-toxic cleaners, and air purifiers, eat organic when possible, and do much more to protect the health of your family at home. But have you ever wondered how safe is your child’s care facility?

A child’s skin is 30% thinner than an adults’, making it a better porous surface for chemicals to leach into. And since children are exposed to an average of 61 different chemical ingredients daily, you can imagine this exposure adds up pretty quickly, especially if that exposure is prolonged for 8 hours at a time on a daily basis.

Fortunately, there are a number of groups working to help parents and administrators “clean-up” the chemicals in children’s environments. The Oregon Environmental Council provides a 25-step checklist that helps assess a child-care facility’s eco-health. For those facilities answering “yes” to 20 of the 25 items, the facility is endorsed by the Council as eco-healthy and the facility gets bragging rights and a website link. With over 945 facilities endorsed nationally, this is a credible and simple program that provides the baseline guarantee for your children’s health.

There are also a number of DVDs, books, instructional materials that help schools become more eco-healthy and green. “Creating Healthy Environments for Children” is a DVD sponsored by www.healthychild.org, while www.myhealthyschool.com provides action plans for creating safer schools.

Better health leads to better education and less stress and worries. See if your facility is endorsed and if not, tell them to request a checklist. Then, consult your Green Irene Eco-Consultant for ideas on how to make your child’s environment eco-healthy.

Margaret Stoklosa, Independent Authorized Green Irene Eco-Consultant

www.GreenIrene.com/1112
Margaret.chicagoland@greenirene.com
708-567-5556