Comments on: Where the mop hits the classroom floor http://www.momsrising.org/blog/where-the-mop-hits-the-classroom-floor/ Where Moms and the people who love them fight for a better America Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:57:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Pat http://www.momsrising.org/blog/where-the-mop-hits-the-classroom-floor/comment-page-1/#comment-24703 Pat Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:30:01 +0000 http://www.momsrising.org/blog/?p=3337#comment-24703 I was poisoned and it has been a wake up call to my family. My husband is a custodian at the local elementary school. He has been able to gain the support of the administration in purchasing green cleaning products. His school was a test site for the products. There has been resistance from other buildings as people still need to feel the burn (in their lungs and eyes) before they think something is clean. It has been an uphill battle at times but with the support of administration it looks as though there will be no further purchasing of the most toxic cleaning products. It is less than perfect but it is a huge step in the right direction. One voice was able to make this huge change. I hope it will inspire others to make the case for getting the most toxic cleaners out of our kids lives. If you don't use it at home why would you allow it to be used in your child's school? Take the first step and you might find a very receptive audience. I was poisoned and it has been a wake up call to my family. My husband is a custodian at the local elementary school. He has been able to gain the support of the administration in purchasing green cleaning products. His school was a test site for the products. There has been resistance from other buildings as people still need to feel the burn (in their lungs and eyes) before they think something is clean. It has been an uphill battle at times but with the support of administration it looks as though there will be no further purchasing of the most toxic cleaning products. It is less than perfect but it is a huge step in the right direction.
One voice was able to make this huge change. I hope it will inspire others to make the case for getting the most toxic cleaners out of our kids lives. If you don’t use it at home why would you allow it to be used in your child’s school? Take the first step and you might find a very receptive audience.

]]> By: Nancy C. http://www.momsrising.org/blog/where-the-mop-hits-the-classroom-floor/comment-page-1/#comment-19524 Nancy C. Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:54:40 +0000 http://www.momsrising.org/blog/?p=3337#comment-19524 Amen! I've been teaching for 38 years and have developed asthma in the last 10 years. I believe it has to do with the "sick" buildings we teach in. All of complain about the school cough we have when we are working, but seems to go away during long vacations and during the summer. It immediately returns when school starts again. I've been out on medical leave for unrelated problems since April of 2008. I haven't had any respiratory problems since I left the building. I used to have to leave my classroom each day before the custodial staff came in to clean or I would have breathing difficulties. Our school used some sort of liquid bleach cleanser that smelled so strong that it really was hard to breathe with the cleaning going on. Amen! I’ve been teaching for 38 years and have developed asthma in the last 10 years. I believe it has to do with the “sick” buildings we teach in. All of complain about the school cough we have when we are working, but seems to go away during long vacations and during the summer. It immediately returns when school starts again. I’ve been out on medical leave for unrelated problems since April of 2008. I haven’t had any respiratory problems since I left the building. I used to have to leave my classroom each day before the custodial staff came in to clean or I would have breathing difficulties. Our school used some sort of liquid bleach cleanser that smelled so strong that it really was hard to breathe with the cleaning going on.

]]> By: Mark http://www.momsrising.org/blog/where-the-mop-hits-the-classroom-floor/comment-page-1/#comment-19440 Mark Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:31:43 +0000 http://www.momsrising.org/blog/?p=3337#comment-19440 Thanks Lisa. This is great. I would like to add that at the Healthy Schools Campaign, we have a free resource for parents, schools, administrators on how to implement a green cleaning program. http://www.greencleanschools.org We are always happy to help out or answer questions about how to implement these programs. And we also were so excited to see the EWG report come out! http://healthyschoolscampaign.org/?ewg Thanks! Mark Bishop Thanks Lisa. This is great.

I would like to add that at the Healthy Schools Campaign, we have a free resource for parents, schools, administrators on how to implement a green cleaning program.

http://www.greencleanschools.org

We are always happy to help out or answer questions about how to implement these programs. And we also were so excited to see the EWG report come out! http://healthyschoolscampaign.org/?ewg Thanks!

Mark Bishop

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