Going Green — Saving Money - Printer Friendly

11/30/2009

Going Green — Saving Money

What its children become, that will the community become.
Suzanne La Follette

In his just released book, Go Green Rating Scale for Early Childhood Settings (Redleaf Press, 2010), Phil Boise outlines some of the ways greening a child care program could actually save money...

a one degree decrease in thermostat setting during the winter will result in a 5 percent savings in heating costs;
use of Energy Star products can result in utility-bill cost savings of several hundred dollars per year;
replacing one standard toilet with a 1.6 gallon low-flow toilet can save an average family over 16,000 gallons of water a year;

Boise concludes, "Green practices such as conservation, reduced purchasing, and purchasing durable, functional items make good economic sense."

Go Green Rating Scale for Early Childhood Settings

Understand what is safe, environmentally friendly, and healthy when it comes to products and practices used in your program. Help make the world a safer, healthier place for young children.

The Go Green Rating Scale for Early Childhood Settings is a comprehensive, research-based tool to help you measure the greenness of your setting, evaluate your practices, and take steps toward environmental improvement that will contribute to children's potential for long, healthy lives. Categories evaluated in the rating scale include:

Air quality
Cleaning products
Chemicals found in soaps, lotions, and sunscreen
Pests and pesticides
Chemicals found in plastics
Lead and other contaminants, such as mercury, formaldehyde and fire retardants, Stewardship and green living, including recycling and waste reduction

Enhanced Childcare Fee Management
Combine your family & child information with a powerful fee management system to maintain a complete history of all family charges, deposits, and payments. This includes features like cash receipts; the ability to handle simple or variable rates (based on schedules, actual attendance, or both); and complete audit trails and detailed financial reports help you make the right business decisions.

Take a Test Drive: Get a free trial version of EZ-CARE2 Center Management Software!

For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.