Helping Kids Breathe Easier: Campaigns to Rid Schools of Toxins Promote Eco-Friendly Cleaners (continued)

"I absolutely think it's only a matter of time before New Jersey mandates this by law like New York has, and then the other states will follow," says Crisafulli. "That's certainly been the trend."

In fact, New Jersey did mandate last January that state offices use green cleaners. With growing awareness and citizen pressure, the prospects are good that schools in New Jersey - and beyond - will also be required to meet green cleaner standards. Andrew Korfhage is an associate editor for Co-op America, a nonprofit membership organization that educates consumers about socially and environmentally responsible purchasing and investing. His editorials on sustainability topics appear in small- to mid-sized newspapers around the country. He cleans his own floors with all-natural castille soap scented with eucalyptus and tea tree oils.

Help Shift Cleaners Market, Win $5,000!

To get the word out that so many green cleaners now exist at no additional cost to institutional buyers, we've launched a campaign to educate school officials, teachers, and parents on how to buy them for use in schools.

As an incentive, New American Dream is offering several $5,000 prizes to schools to raise awareness. We gave the first prize in April to Jill Butterfield, the Parent Teacher Association President for Baldwin Elementary School in Quincy, Illinois.

Our second sweepstakes is open from now until September 21. Anyone can enter their school to win by simply completing the registration form at www.newdream.org/cleanschools.

When New American Dream began its work to promote environmentally preferable cleaning products in 2001, no uniform standards existed defining "green cleaning products." In fact, institutions interested in buying safer cleaners unintentionally made it difficult for manufacturers to respond to market demand by using different criteria. New American Dream organized a working group of institutional buyers to agree on a set of standards for cleaning products. We then helped to rally buyers around environmental criteria developed by the independent certifying body Green Seal. Institutions such as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the City of Santa Monica, California, created enough initial demand for green cleaners that companies reformulated their products to meet the New American Dream working group's criteria. Now hundreds of products are certified as meeting rigorous third-party environmental and safety standards!

Sustainable Steps for Schools

1. Use only all-natural, bio-based cleaners for surface cleaning (windows, desks, mirrors, dust mop treatments, etc.). General surface cleaners should be free from fragrances and dyes, free from petrochemicals, and non-aerosol.

2. Disinfectants and sanitizers should not be used for general cleaning and should not be used when children are present. They should be used sparingly, for body fluid spills and other public health concerns or when required by the Department of Health.

3. Products for floor stripping and finishing should be used only when schools are vacant. Conventional cleaners in this category are highly toxic; schools should look for products without styrene (a suspected carcinogen) or heavy metals.

4. When possible, pesticides should be eliminated around school property in favor of an organic (or "integrated") pest management program.