Schools from a substantial part of a child’s life; cleaning the school using chemical products can lead the kids being exposed to these chemicals. This is especially true in with younger children in kindergarten who may put pencils, crayons and toys in their mouths. Substituting school cleaning supplies with eco friendly ones will be good for the earth and for the students as well.
Unfortunately, there aren’t nearly enough laws that restrict the kind of chemicals that are used in most chemical used in cleaning supplies, and there are few law that restrict schools from using chemical based cleaning supplies to clean the premises of a school. Manufacturers are also not obligated to test the products before they are sold in the market. A lot of standard cleaning agents have dangerous chemicals in them that release fumes when they are used on surfaces; these also affect the quality of indoor air. Schools can take an initiative by asking the parents of their students to contribute cleaning supplies for each classroom. You can donate soaps, wipes, sprays that have certified eco friendly substances in them; you can explain to the teacher how it affects your child’s health.
Bring up this topic, the next time you are at a parent-teacher conference. Explain to those concerned why it’s important to use green cleaning agents; and how most eco friendly cleaning supplies are concentrated and will help them to save on cleaning costs. You can also point out the availability of numerous products that can be substituted.
Another factor that you can highlight is the health perspective; this will also get other parents interested. Convince your child’s school to reduce the amount of exposure; if the school insists on using typical cleaning supplies, there are a few things that they can do to prevent the kids from being exposed to toxic byproducts. Keeping the windows open to will allow fumes and spray particles to escape, wiping down surfaces with water will limit the amount of chemical residue on them, placing mats near doors will limit the dirt, residues, chemical pesticides, automobile exhaust from being brought onto the school premises.
Certain states in the US have now made it mandatory for schools to use green cleaning products. If you live in one of these states, then make sure that your kid’s school has implemented these changes. You can get a list of the cleaning supplies that the school uses to determine if they are green certified, this will also help the school to identify products that don’t suit the bill.
