Is Your Child`s Day Home Eco-friendly, Safe and Toxic Free
- Post Written by Jai Kai on August 31, 2010
There is some shocking and even frightening news out there revealing that your child’s daycare may be a primary source of toxic chemicals. This article is not here to scare you but rather to create awareness about your day home or day care center and to take the necessary steps to ensure your child is in a healthy and safe environment.
The first step is to find a decent eco-friendly day home or child care center that will help reduce your child’s exposure to chemicals. In some places finding an eco-friendly child care center can be very challenging, however in every major city across Canada and the US you are more than likely to find a few by searching online and using day home directories. They are becoming more and more popular as people`s awareness expand with regards to living a more green and healthy lifestyle. Parents are demanding it more and providers are realizing the need for it as well.
Paying a little bit extra for an eco-friendly day home service can definitely be worth it when it comes to your child`s health, Eco-Healthy & friendly child care providers are committed to reducing exposure to toxins in household products and reducing other environmental health hazards.
My day home provider say’s they are eco-friendly but how do I know what precautions and what guidelines they are using to ensure that they really are toxic free and providing the safest and healthiest environment possible?
Since there are no formal guidelines out there or any approved or accredited agencies out there that are certified as being eco-friendly I have researched and put together these 25 eco-friendly and healthy steps as a checklist to ensure the highest health and green standards I feel are necessary. Here they are:
25 steps to make your child’s day-home more eco-friendly and healthy.
1. Ensure the elimination of all pesticides and herbicides from lawn-based play areas.
2. Ensure that non-toxic techniques are used both inside and outside the facility to prevent and control insects and pests.
3. Ensure the air quality is kept clean and non-toxic. For example no smoking, toxic candles, air fresheners or burning fires near the premises.
4. Ensure the usage of non-toxic cleaning products and the least-toxic disinfecting and sanitizing products available. Cleaning products must be stored where children cannot access them.
5. Ensure the elimination of excess moisture, which contributes to the growth of mold and mildew. This includes proper ventilation and air flow, repairing water leaks and keeping humidity within a desirable range.
6. Ensure the elimination of all aerosol products.
7. Ensure the usage of baby friendly or kid friendly sunscreens only. >> Read More
A New Sustainable Business and Product – The Eco-friendly 100% recycled binder
- Post Written by Jai Kai on August 27, 2010
Today’s Friday eco-friendly featured product is something we all could probably would use whether you are a student or simply someone who wants to organize important papers. The Naked Binder is the ultimate binder when it comes to office and school supplies. The binder is sustainable made from 100% recycled binders which can be recycled all over again.
Do you currently use eco-friendly office supplies or green school supplies for your children? Well now is your chance to help sustain the planet because we found this amazing company and product that does. Here are some more reasons why to use Naked Binder products:
• You get less toxins, wastes and the not so eco-friendly vinyl or plastic.
• It’s extremely strong and durable – tested to over 250 000 flexes.
• The binders are made from 100 percent recycled boards from 97 percent post-consumer waste.
• They are water resistant and rain proof – they have been tested through a dishwasher.
• You can modify the binder to suit your labelling, drawing or painting needs.
• The binders look good, feel good and lasts a long time (designed to last for 10 years).
• You can get special naked folder for when you only need a few papers.
• The company avoids using toxins in manufacturing, packaging and shipping.
• They minimize their waste by recycling nearly everything.
• They donate a part of their sales to help preserve the environment and wilderness areas.
• They help reduce toxic landfill and preserve the forests – the binders are biodegradable
• They are members of 1% for the planet.
• They support education systems through donations and offer school educators discounts.
• They are made in the USA.
• They offer a 100% money back guarantee so if you are not satisfied you can send it back for a refund.
I really love this ingenious idea of having eco-friendly school and office supplies that are acid and toxic free and, that leaves less of a footprint on our planet. How can you go wrong? Perhaps I will contact them and see if they will send me one and give it a try. For more information you can visit the naked binder store.
To comment please tweet me at PlanetWell
Sustainable travel -10 simple tips on how to be an eco-traveler
- Post Written by Jai Kai on August 23, 2010
Sustainable travel is a way of traveling that has a positive impact on the environment as opposed to a negative one. It allows you to keep your carbon footprint as small as possible while traveling and helps preserve our planet’s natural resources. Sustainable travel may sound like something any traveler would be interested in, right? Perhaps, but many travelers who may be interested in eco-friendly travel, may not know where to begin.
Sustainable travel is growing with popular demand and can be a fun adventure for everyone. You don’t need to camp in the jungle or hike in the middle of the mountains with bare minimum supplies to travel eco-friendly (unless, of course, is what you will). It simply requires some awareness and a willingness to experience traveling in a different way. The following sustainable traveling tips makes traveling green easy for anyone, whatever your tastes may be. Just remember that every little bit counts when it comes to sustaining the wellness of our planet. Here they are:
1. Look for travel companies, car rental places, airlines and hotels that participate in green programs. Often they will take measures to offset their carbon footprint
2. Consider renting a bike instead of a car. It’s easy to do this in a larger city and it allows you to observe things more slowly – often seeing things you might miss.
3. Look for hotels with a green certification or a “Green Score” - Green Travel Hub by is an organization that donates 20% of their proceeds from each trip to an environmental group, so each trip can make a difference and have a positive impact on our planet.
4. Use your hotel’s program to reuse sheets and towels. If they don’t have one, let house-keeping know that you do not need to replace your sheets and towels each day.
5. Turn off the lights, electronics, heat, or air conditioning in your room while you are away. >> Read More
Let the water be your adventure
- Post Written by Jai Kai on August 19, 2010
“Water has no taste, no color, no odor; it cannot be defined, art relished while ever mysterious. Not necessary to life, but rather life itself. It fills us with a gratification that exceeds the delight of the senses” – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
Simple sustainable living can be a fun and exciting adventure when you explore the elements of water and all it has to offer. It can also be a very meditating and relaxing way to connect to nature and the beauty that surrounds us. Two thirds of our planet is covered with water, so no wonder so many people find peace and serenity through various water activities.
Like millions of other people, I enjoy water activities such as surfing, kayaking, canoeing, scuba diving and sailing. I even love spending quiet time like reading or contemplating near a body of water.
Recently I had the experience of sea kayaking in the beautiful waters of Hawaii. When I think back to that beautiful day, I clearly remember gliding effortlessly and silently alongside the enormous sea cliffs – their walls ablaze with indigo, crimson and gold in the early morning light. Carved from the volcanic landscape, these cliffs are a testament to deep time, having existed for more than 100 million years. During my kayaking excursion on the island of Kauai, I noticed how the activity brought stillness, a quiet mind and a deep presence in my body – encouraging contemplation of the mystery and the adventure that was about to unfold.
The essence of water really supports the simplicity of life and the opening of the heart and mind. For centuries people would leave the land to connect with water to discover their human potential and to awaken their senses to the beauty, tranquility and silence of the natural world. Today, the same is true. This is why so many travel adventure seekers and companies involve some sort of activity in or on the water.
When we surround ourselves with water in nature, we bring a receptive presence to our surroundings. Our world comes alive, and so do we. We no longer look at water as an inert or lifeless substance, but as a living and breathing world of mystery and sensitivity – a realm of wisdom and learning that is always whispering its teachings to us. By watching the calm reflective lake, the twig flowing down the stream or even the violent and thunderous waves, we learn from nature’s many metaphors about how we can live. >> Read More