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In his just released book, Go Green Rating Scale for Early Childhood Settings (Redleaf Press, 2010), Phil Boise outlines some of the ways greening a child care program could actually save money...

• a one degree decrease in thermostat setting during the winter will result in a 5 percent savings in heating costs;
• use of Energy Star products can result in utility-bill cost savings of several hundred dollars per year;
• replacing one standard toilet with a 1.6 gallon low-flow toilet can save an average family over 16,000 gallons of water a year;

Boise concludes, "Green practices such as conservation, reduced purchasing, and purchasing durable, functional items make good economic sense."

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Understand what is safe, environmentally friendly, and healthy when it comes to products and practices used in your program.  Help make the world a safer, healthier place for young children. 

The Go Green Rating Scale for Early Childhood Settings is a comprehensive, research-based tool to help you measure the greenness of your setting, evaluate your practices, and take steps toward environmental improvement that will contribute to children's potential for long, healthy lives.  Categories evaluated in the rating scale include:

• Air quality
• Cleaning products
• Chemicals found in soaps, lotions, and sunscreen
• Pests and pesticides
• Chemicals found in plastics
• Lead and other contaminants, such as mercury, formaldehyde and fire retardants, Stewardship and green living, including recycling and waste reduction

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