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by Michelle Bexelius

Going to school is the most exciting thing to do as the new kid on the block. There are so many new things to discover and learn, but I’ve noticed that so many things can be improved to strengthen their experience.

The first thing I noticed as a parent of a kindergartener touring schools is the lack of fresh air and circulation in the classrooms. There are enough germs going on between buddies. Wouldn’t it be nice to open the windows or better yet, use an air filter to also rid the place from bacteria and dust. Who wants to bring that home anyway? This is especially important in the presence of art materials such as glues and paints as the little guys create their masterpieces.

Each year school supplies get replenished after hours of use, spilling, knocking over, etc, but one thing I would like to see is that schools start using more non toxic ingredients for the little hands that touch them. Glues and crayons can be made without animal by-products and may contain lead. Soy wax crayons and safe glues are a great alternative.

Here’s a list of some things to make your school green and healthy:

1 Ask the grounds crew to use natural herbicides and pesticides.
2 Create paper, plastic, and aluminum recycling centers near waste bins.
3 Request that the school copy center and administrative offices use 100 percent recycled paper.
4 Work with the administration and food services departments to eliminate Styrofoam cups, plastic utensils, and other wasteful products.
5 Ask the school to use non toxic cleaning products.
6 Place Air filters in the classrooms.
7 Compost leftover meals for the garden.
8 Choose recycled paper goods - toilet paper, napkins, paper towels.
9 Use soy wax crayons (a host of regular crayons have lead in them).
10 Request that stainless steel or ceramic plates are used for lunch/breakfast.
11 Organize and plant an Organic Garden and serve organic food.
12 Look for environmentally safe paints for buildings.
13 Suggest wax paper bags for home lunches brought to school.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 30th, 2007 at 10:59 pm and is filed under Schools, Children. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.