Healthy and Safe Schools
What if your school could reduce environmental impacts, improve learning conditions and lower operating costs, all at the same time? The MSU Extension Housing and Environmental Health Program has developed the Healthy and Safe Schools Kit to help schools create a healthy environment.
Did you know?
- One out of 13 school-age children have asthma. Asthma is the leading reason children are absent from school.
- Twenty-five percent of the chemicals used in schools are classified as hazardous chemicals.
- Poor indoor air quality can impact the comfort and health of students and staff, which, in turn, can affect concentration, attendance, and performance.
The environmental improvement strategies in the Healthy and Safe Schools Kit has been organized into several categories, including:
- Green Cleaning
- School Chemical Clean Outs
- Waste Reduction
- Energy Conservation
- Clean air
- Integrated Pest Management
The Healthy and Safe Schools Kit offers tips and resources to help schools identify opportunities to "green" their buildings and operations, conserve energy, reduce waste, and improve air quality. The emphasis has been placed on prevention-oriented strategies, which are preferable to dealing with wastes and pollutants after the fact.
Checklists
- Art Teachers Checklist
- Family & Consumer Science (Home Economics) Checklist
- Vocational Education (Shop, Ag Ed, etc.) Checklist
Posters
- Green Clean poster
- Chemicals at School poster
- Clean Air poster
- Hazardous Chemicals poster
- Integrated Pest Management poster
- Save Energy at School poster
- Top 10 Things You Can Do to Green Your School
- Waste Reduction poster
EPA Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Resources
- EPA's IAQ Tools for Schools Program
- EPA's IAQ Tools for Schools National Symposium - January 13-15, 2011. Visit the National Symposium site for more information or to register
- EPA's IAQ Tools for Schools National Awards - for schools that start and maintain a healthy IAQ program using Tools for Schools
Additional Resources
- Hazardous Chemicals Inventory and Cataloging Request and Inventory Example
- List of Healthy Schools websites
- Center for Health, Environment & Justice's Guide to PVC-Free School Supplies
- Green Cleaning Pollution Prevention Calculator
Healthy and Safe Schools Webinar Series
The Peaks to Prairies Pollution Prevention Information Center recently hosted a 6-part webinar series. The presentations are available for viewing on the Peaks to Prairies website.