Oct 6, 2009 7:23 pm US/Eastern
More Daycares Now Going Green
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
With so many options and teaching styles to choose from, picking a daycare center can be an overwhelming task for many parents. Now there is one more consideration to add to that list: should you send your kid to an environmentally-friendly childcare.
Mother of two, Kristen Nowadly, likes a lot of things about her children's child care facility. "The daycare was very clean, the teachers were very enthusiastic and kind."
Something else appealed to her at the Fedkids Child Care in Lower Manhattan. "I've become, as a parent, more aware of our environmental impact as a family, and just knowing that the child care center is also making strides to be environmentally-friendly is important to us."
It's a growing trend. Across the country more and more day care centers are going green, using eco-friendly cleaning products, non-toxic toys, even serving organic snacks.
"It's been challenging and you know old standards had to, kind of, be pushed aside," said Holly Saltzman.
The conversion at Fedkids started in 2006 when the center stopped using traditional chemical cleaning products. "Initially it was hard for the parents because after we cleaned they didn't think things smelled clean."
Today Fedkids is one of just a thousand day care centers in the country to be certified "environmentally friendly." This means the center has proven it's not only taking steps to be kinder to the environment but create a facility that may be healthier for the children.
"Just taking little steps to reduce kids exposures can make a big difference," said Dr. Alan Greene. Pediatrician and author of several books on how to raise your baby green, he said studies show daycare-aged children have some of the highest levels of toxins in their systems; toxins that have been linked to chronic diseases like asthma.
"Every little step can help tilt the odds for those children and help teach them to just be thinking about the environment," Greene said.
"While they can't live in a bubble, certainly they can learn good values here and while they are here make sure they aren't exposed to toxic products and chemicals," Nowadly said.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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