$1.00 Earth Day Investment Can Eliminate Toxics in Day Care Centers.

April 13, 2007 - PRLog -- Duncansville, PA, April 13, 2007-- Day Care Centers should be safe and healthy facilities where young children may spend up to 10 hours or more per day.  Vicki Zerbee has announced an Earth Day Cleaner Kit Project presented at www.EarthDayCleanEveryday.com, where day care centers can participate, with the support of the families registered there.  Zerbee points out that with a small donation based on the cost of a Green Cleaner Kit divided by the number of families enrolled in the day care center, a safe, healthy, complete kit of cleaning products can be purchased for the center.  This constitutes an Earth Day contribution, and one that continues to give benefits every day of the year.

The environment benefits and the children do as well.  Each Cleaner Kit purchased is the environmental equivalent to eliminating 108 pounds of packaging waste from landfills, eliminating 248 pounds of greenhouse gas, and Planting 10 Trees.  Zerbee states, “This is a measurable donation, and when you multiply it out by lots of kits distributed, the environment benefits that much more, and children benefit in a healthier, safer personal environment.”

The National Resource Center (NRC) for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education (http://nrc.uchsc.edu/) was formed to promote health and safety in out-of-home childcare settings across the nation.  It gives information to providers, parents, consultants and regulators.

There are other resources to support safe and healthy facilities that house our children while they are away from their homes and their parents as well.  Operators can find physical locations such as the NRC office at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and also a wealth of information online, including organizations such as Healthy Kids, Healthy Care (http://www.healthykids.us/).  Day care centers have regulations they must obey, yet still most centers are privately operated and actual safety practices vary widely from center to center.

Even with regulations in place, parents should still do their own personal safety check when considering a day care center for their child.  In regard to toxins, it is important to make sure that in the day care center toxic substances like cleaning supplies are kept away from children.  It is even more desirable for such products not to be used at all in these facilities.  Issues that should be addressed include:  a regular schedule of cleaning the facility, immediate messes cleaned at once, and ensuring that sanitizing methods are performed properly.

Day care centers are not widely known for neatness, with a number of little bodies in a close environment; and lots of dirt and dust being distributed.  Today, more children have allergies, asthma, and other respiratory illnesses than ever before.  Some cleaning products that are used, including long time popular brands, add to the indoor air pollution in buildings where young children spend a significant amount of time.  Toxins and chemicals in cleaning products have been tested and proven risky to use around all people, and children may be most sensitive.

Day care centers should be cleaned often and as effectively as possible, but that cleaning should not contribute to unhealthy environments.  Children's organ systems are still developing, and air pollutants can actually cause specific illnesses.  At such a young age, these children are most likely not able to identify when or if they are being affected by such pollutants.

Children can be exposed to toxins and chemicals directly if there is skin contact, by breathing in these toxins while certain cleaning products are in use nearby, and even through vapors or fumes from closed containers in the area.  The use of toxic cleaning products has been directly linked to health challenges and even serious illnesses.

To take prevention seriously, a day care center may choose to purchase healthier, safer, 'green' cleaning products that have a reduced effect on people in the environment where they are used.  The green products clean as well or even better than the other more toxic brands.  The manufacturing process, packaging and actual use of these products are much safer around very young people.  

Safe cleaning products are biodegradable, able to be used for more than one task to reduce packaging waste, made with renewable resources, and sold with reduced packaging.  Adding water to a green product, instead of it coming packaged ready-to-use, greatly reduces the waste that will result.  Recyclable containers are another environmentally safe attribute.

For more information on the Earth Day Everyday Cleaner Kit Project, please contact Vicki Zerbee, or visit www.EarthDayCleanEveryday.com.

Website: EarthDayCleanEveryday.com