Other Publications of Note: Greening Early Childhood Education

Abstract

 2014 Children, Youth and Environments Children, Youth and Environments 24(2), 2014 Other Publications of Note: Greening Early Childhood Education International Journal of Early Childhood Environmental Education North American Association for Environmental Education ISSN 2331-0464 (online) This new publication of the North American Association for Environmental Education focuses on the education of young children from birth to eight years. Its initial issue was published in the winter of 2013, with sections on “Research,” “Advocacy Initiatives,” such as The Natural Start Alliance, “Advocacy Models,” such as the growing culture of nature play, and “Highlights of Resources and Books in Early Childhood Environmental Education.” In addition to children, articles focus on the caregivers, communities, institutions, and systems that form the larger context of learning. The journal seeks to apply research and theory to environmental education policy and practice at the local, state, regional, national and international level. For a sample issue and to subscribe, see www.naaee.net/publications. Go Green Rating Scale Handbook for Early Childhood Settings: Improving Your Score Phil Boise (2010). St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press. $29.95 USD (paperback). ISBN 978-1-60554-007-8. Go Green Rating Scale for Early Childhood Settings Phil Boise (2009). St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press. $19.95 USD (paperback). ISBN 978-1-60554-006-1. Greening early childhood education has the visible dimension of naturalizing school grounds, planting gardens and bringing nature indoors, but equally importantly, it has the invisible dimension of ensuring that the environment will be toxin-free for the well-being of children, staff, and larger ecosystems, and that daily operations will embody an ethic of stewardship. This comprehensive handbook and rating Other Publications of Note: Greening Early Childhood Education 256 scale condense a large amount of complex information into a sequence of sections that begin with establishing a system for staffing, reviewing, and record keeping related to environmental hazard management, and then proceed to every facet of day-to-day operations, with recommendations that go beyond minimum requirements for state licensing. A section on “Green Living and Stewardship” covers the conservation of water and energy, green building, reducing a school or center’s carbon footprint, moving to zero-waste food and food packaging, promoting organic foods, and the three R’s of reducing, reusing and recycling materials. Importantly, it also suggests how to involve children and families in these practices. Whereas the REACH program of the European Union places the burden of proof for product safety on companies, not consumers, and requires the gradual replacement of hazardous substances with safer alternatives, the United States remains mired in an outdated and inadequate regulatory system that is heavily controlled by the chemical industry. Therefore it falls to the directors and staff of early childhood settings to ensure the safety of environments for the children in their charge. This handbook and scale show how to do this, step by step. Sections on hazards and safer alternatives cover air quality, lead and other contaminants, cleaning and hygiene products, pests and pesticides, fire retardants, outdoor materials like treated lumber and playground surfaces, and chemicals in plastics, toys and art supplies. The rating scale enables early childhood settings to consider all aspects of going green, and to monitor their progress on this path. While the handbook and scale acknowledge state licensing requirements and help child care centers meet them, they advocate the precautionary principle, which requires the use of safer alternative strategies whenever there is any potential for serious harm—the principle that underlies the European Union’s REACH program but that U.S. regulations fail to reflect. The handbook’s recommendations for best practices and the highest scores on the rating scale identify the goals that early childhood settings should aim for. Eco-Healthy Child Care website of the Children’s Environmental Health Network www.cehn.org/ehcc A 30-item checklist for “eco-healthy” child care centers and family home providers can be downloaded for free in English or Spanish from the Children’s Environmental Health Network (CEHN), a national organization that is grounded in pediatric and environmental health science, with the mission of protecting the developing child from environmental health hazards and promoting a healthier environment. If settings comply with...