Get Pesticides out of Your Kids' Classrooms: It's easier than you think!

Get Pesticides out of Your Kids’ Classrooms: It’s easier than you think!

By Kate Watkins, Outreach Intern with Toxic Free NC

            Leaving children in school, daycare, or another person’s home can be nerve wracking for any parent.  It’s impossible to have complete control over everything in our children’s daily environment, but there are plenty of important things we can control.  Luckily, exposure to toxic chemicals like pesticides is one of them!  By requesting the use of safer pest control in child care facilities, we can spend less time worrying and more time focusing on spelling tests, classroom parties, and scraped knees!

             If you haven’t heard much about Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, do not be discouraged!  IPM is a toxic-free approach to pest control that dramatically reduces chemical pollution by emphasizing prevention.  IPM depends on smarter cleaning, maintenance, and monitoring of pest prone areas in schools, daycares, and also in the home.  Toxic Free NC, NC State University, and even the US Environmental Protection Agency encourage schools and child care centers to use IPM.  Some great news is that progress has been made!  North Carolina’s “School Children’s Health Act” required public schools to adopt IPM programs by October 2011.  However, we still have a ways to go in order for private schools and child care centers to catch on to these healthy habits.

             IPM tactics cost less than many conventional pest programs, and are often more effective than spraying yucky pesticides.  To utilize IPM, teachers, students, school staff, and administrators need to be educated on how they can participate.  Monitoring of the grounds must be done regularly to catch potential pest problems before they begin.  Preventive actions must be taken, including smarter cleaning, proper waste disposal, structural maintenance, and good soil health.  These steps can be as simple as installing weather stripping and door sweeps to prevent pests from entering your child care center and home; putting cereal and sugar in airtight, plastic containers; repairing leaky pipes; and making sure all garbage cans lock securely.

If pest problems do break out despite these measures, the least-toxic and lowest-risk pesticides should be used to eliminate the problem, such as baits and traps.  In these cases, parents must be notified if pesticides are used.  Records of pest activity and management must be kept so that problem areas can be monitored.  Using these tactics can also help spread awareness about toxic pesticides among the staff, and may greatly reduce their use.

            To help you get started with IPM, Toxic Free NC offers free training to child care centers.  Participants will also receive four NC Division of Child Development and Early Education contact hours...for free!  If you are interested in hosting an IPM training for your staff, please contact Lynne Walter at Toxic Free NC at (919) 833-1123 or lynne@toxicfreenc.org.

Now, let’s jump on the natural bandwagon and discover the wonders of toxic free living through Integrated Pest Management!

Resources:

Toxic Free NC: www.toxicfreenc.org

What is Integrated Pest Management? http://www.toxicfreenc.org/informed/factsheets/whatisIPM.html

Toxic Free Child Care: http://www.toxicfreenc.org/programs/childcare.html

Toxic Free Schools: http://www.toxicfreenc.org/programs/school.html

The School Children’s Health Act: A Guide for Parents from Toxic Free NC: http://www.toxicfreenc.org/informed/factsheets/schoolchildrenshealthact.html

Kate Watkins is a student, nanny, dancer, and she is also a volunteer for Toxic Free NC.  She hopes to join the Peace Corps or another international NGO, and she is extremely passionate about environmental issues and their impact on human rights.

Toxic Free NC is a non-profit organization in Raleigh fighting pesticide pollution by advocating for common-sense alternatives that protect our health and environment. Toxic Free NC works extensively with child care providers and parents to reduce toxic pollution in children’s environments. You can find out more about their work at www.toxicfreenc.org, or by calling (919) 833-1123.