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Eco-Healthy Child Care
Help has arrived for parents and providers.

By Shelly Bokman

As it’s become hip to be green, we’ve looked more closely at our homes, workplaces, neighborhoods and schools to see how environmentally healthy they are. But what about the child care environments where our very youngest children spend their days?

Youngsters are especially sensitive to chemicals because their organs and immune systems are still developing. Pound for pound, they also eat and breathe more than adults, and their normal habits, like crawling on the floor and putting their hands in their mouths, increase their exposure to toxins. State licensing regulations for child care were created many years ago and focus on safety. We now know that environmental hazards, like chemicals in cleaning products and weed killers, are dangerous for children, yet much of this knowledge has yet to be incorporated into state licensing regulations.

Child Care Goes Green
Help has arrived for parents and child care providers who want to choose environments that are safe, healthy, and free of dangerous chemicals. The newly created Eco-Healthy Child Care (EHCC) program, started in Oregon in 2005, ensures that child care settings are as environmentally healthy as possible. EHCC is a free, voluntary recognition program available to child care providers. The goal of the program is to educate and empower child care providers to reduce environmental toxins in their child care facilities (both centers and family day cares), while encouraging parents to choose “eco-healthy.” Its early success was so impressive that in 2007 it received a generous grant to expand this first-of-its-kind program nationally. California is one of seven pilot states receiving training.

Non-Toxic? Check!
A child care facility qualifies as “Eco-Healthy” by completing a checklist of 25 simple steps to ensure the facility is a safe, environmentally healthy place for children. Eco-Healthy providers commit to reducing children's exposure to toxic substances and other environmental health hazards. Many of the steps are simple things which most child care providers already do, like avoiding lead-based paints, recycling, and not smoking on the premises. Others are small—completely do-able—steps, like using rough mats at entry ways and getting rid of all aerosol sprays, air fresheners, and toxic cleaning products. And while there are some trickier items on the checklist—like finding soft, washable infant toys which don’t contain PVC, or replacing playground equipment made of chemically treated wood—child care programs need only comply with 20 of the 25 items on the checklist to be certified. Of course, any step toward a greener, healthier environment for children is a step in the right direction.

Help your child care provider become Eco-Healthy:
• If you have questions or would like to be endorsed as Eco-Healthy, contact Hester Dooley at hesterd@oeconline.org.
• You can also find Toxic Reduction Tips for improving the health and safety of your home, school or child care facility at OEC-online.