Iris Valley Learning Center was the first Oregon facility to be certified eco-healthy
BETH CASPER
Sheila Nelson picks up her 4-year-old grandson from day care knowing that he has been in a safe environment.
Not "safe" in the typical sense, but safe from chemicals, secondhand smoke and mold.
Iris Valley Learning Center in Keizer was the first of 58 child-care facilities in the state certified as eco-healthy by the Oregon Environmental Council
For the sake of her grandson with asthma, Nelson notified center director Penny Lane-Garver of the program.
"The less junk we have around for people to breathe, the better," said Nelson, a former Salem elementary school teacher. "They have untreated wood chips in the playground, which is good because kids crawl around in it."
The eco-healthy certification requires that child-care providers prohibit smoking and the use of pesticides. Then day-care facilities have to meet 18 of an additional 23 items, which include the use of nontoxic cleaners and art supplies and the elimination of aerosol sprays and air fresheners.
"If you protect children's health, you will almost, by definition, protect adults because children are more vulnerable," said Laura Weiss of the Oregon Environmental Council. "If there is a toxin in the air, a child will be exposed to more of that toxin simply because they breathe more pound for pound."
Weiss said children also eat and drink more per pound of body weight than adults. Children also spend a lot of time on the ground, where there is a greater chance of exposure to chemicals used on lawns or in materials such as wood chips, Weiss said.
More than 350 providers have requested information about the 5-month-old certification. An advisory board considered cost and ease of use, as well as environmental health issues, for the checklist.
"We looked at things that were doable both in homes and centers," said Jean Wucki of the child-care division of the Oregon Employment Department. "And we looked at cost. We all felt that if the products we are asking them to buy were more expensive, a lot of people wouldn't participate. We also tried to make it pretty simple."
For Kasyn Crabtree, the owner of Second Home Daycare in Salem, being eco-healthy was a perfect fit.
"It is something I always strive for myself," she said. "I think it is a good educational tool for people who may not know how to help their kids."
The certification isn't creating booming day-care business for Crabtree or other facilities. But as parents become aware of the program, more will ask about the criteria, said Mary Nemmers, the executive director of the Oregon Childcare Resource and Referral Network.
"I don't think there is a demand," Nemmers said. "It's so new that parents aren't thinking about it. But consumer education is part of what we do, so we need to help parents learn what this means, the kind of questions they can ask and how to make a change."
bcasper@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 589-6994
