1 / 13

Green Cleaning in School Environments

Green Cleaning in School Environments. Sandra Boggs Recycling and Market Development Specialist 841-5217. Why Green Products?. We can use our spending power to create a cleaner and healthier world.

binh
Download Presentation

Green Cleaning in School Environments

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Green Cleaning in School Environments Sandra Boggs Recycling and Market Development Specialist 841-5217

  2. Why Green Products? We can use our spending power to create a cleaner and healthier world. We buy, buy, buy ….stuff made from or with our land, water, air and other resources. • Huge opportunity to drive market forces • Examples of unhealthy products are too numerous to mention • Too many unknowns about many of the chemicals in use today

  3. Why Schools? • Community centers; used by public • Children may spend 35 – 50 hours/week • Schools are aging • Poor ventilation, contaminated building materials • Already contribute to exposure • Throughcomputers, furnishings, and school classes such as art and laboratory (VOCs, PBDE, PCBs, lead and more)

  4. Why Schools? • Indoor concentrations of pollutants are commonly 3 to 5 times higher than outdoor concentrations. • Custodians use an estimated 194 pounds of cleaning chemicals a year and 25% or 48.5 pounds are hazardous materials. Known consequences of poor indoor air quality are: • Asthma • Chronic respiratory illnesses • Sick Building Syndrome • Allergies and sensitivities caused by low levels of common chemicals including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) • Loss of productivity Lots of guidance and experience is already available.

  5. Higher risks for Children • Child health/safety concerns • Have different exposure circumstances: • Inhale more often than adults • Eat more of certain foods, and • Drink more H20 per pound of body weight than adults • Greater skin exposure per pound of body weight • Behavior, such as playing • Toxic Soup known to affect learning

  6. Childhood exposures to industrial chemicals in the environment are associated with: • Cancer • Damage to the developing brain • Autism • Attention deficit disorder (ADD) • Learning disabilities • Mental retardation

  7. A “body burden” of chemicals Studies have found: Lead exposure as children, Idaho • 20 years later they have higher infertility rates, less ability to concentrate, and poorer memory than control group U.S., Europe and Asia studied breast milk and newborn babies: • 350 pollutants, including Perchlorates PCBs in urine • NY study found PCBs in women eating fish, levels were “very low” • Their kids: 10 times higher levels of PCBs in their urine Toxic flame retardants (PBDEs) • Pacific NW study; 40 mothers’ breast milk tested and all tested positive • Study concluded exposure to PBDEs CANNOT be avoided • Mercury (MT legislators, 34 positives, 6 over EPA limit)

  8. Montana is not immune • Women’s Voices for the Earth tested hair for mercury during the 2007 legislative session. • 34 subjects • EVERY person tested positive • Results ranged from 0.053 to 1.580 ppm. • EPA/FDA recommends no more than 1.0 ppm. • 6 out of the 34 tested exceeded 1ppm.

  9. It’s Easy to Buy Smart • If you know what to look for…

  10. Be wary of Greenwashing • Avoid industry created “labels” • Ask questions • Check ingredients • Demand transparency

  11. Third party certified • Audited and transparent labeling process • Widely accepted • Appropriate for product or service • For example, EMS and ISO certification • About ongoing improvement to the company’s environmental management processes; • No guarantee product has low impacts.

  12. Resources • Have distributor demonstrate and train custodians when using new products • Greencleaning.ny.gov -- Online training modules with specific information on when/how to use green cleaners • Greeningschools.org • HealthySchoolsCampaign.org -Chicago, free CD-Rom • DEQ website: greenpurchasing.mt.gov • EPA website: epa.gov Sustainability Exchange Yellowstone

  13. Thank you Clean with your health in mind. Buy Green Buy Wisely! Sandra Boggs Recycling and Marketing Development Specialist sboggs@mt.gov 841-5217 

More Related