Ok, I admit it. I am kind of looking forward to my son starting school in the Fall. It's not that I don't love our camping trips and days at the beach, it's just that juggling work and play is hard and the hours he is in school make it much easier for me to balance things. To be able to really sink into being with him when we are together. What I am not looking forward to is the idea that he will be spending over five hours in a day in a potentially toxic environment.

The pesticides and cleaning agents that are commonly used at most schools have been shown to impair learning as well as reduce overall health and well-being. Furthermore, the lack of proper ventilation increases the risk of allergies and life threatening diseases such as asthma and cancer associated with exposure to many of these contaminants. If that's not enough incentive for you to consider greening your child's school:

• K-12 schools account for 7 percent of all energy used by commercial buildings, costing a total of $6 billion every year, and schools account for a large percentage of the over 1 billion trees worth of paper that is thrown into landfills each year in the United States.
• Being green can save money and help improve test scores. Purchasing Energy Star appliances and light sensors can save up to 50% on energy costs. Reducing garbage can save your school thousands of dollars per year.

Now that you're inspired, here are a few steps to start with: