The following resources are great places to look for answers about your child’s environment.

AIRNow: AIRNow offers lots of ways to stay in the know about air quality. You can check the overall air quality in your neck of the woods and compare it to other places. You can have email alerts sent to you so that you know when the air quality is poor (or good). They also offer fun online kid activities for ages five to ten.

SafeWater from the EPA: SafeWater lets you read current and past reports on the state of water where you live. Learn about drinking water standards, access public water programs and facts, plus kids and teens can hang out at the SafeWater kid’s site.

More to come.

What’s your favorite resource that offers advice for a healthy environment?

Post from: Tree Hugging Family

The goal of the Children’s Centers is to address the fact that children are extra vulnerable to the negative effects of environmental exposures. Each of the current centers researches environmental risks along with how to reduce that risk. Some centers are funded in part by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) while a couple are funded in full by the EPA.

Why do the Centers matter to you and your family? Each of the centers looks at exposure issues that can harm your children such as lead, pesticides, mercury, PCBs and more. The centers compare these risk’s roles in childhood disorders like autism, learning disabilities, and asthma. The centers go in-depth as explained by the EPA:

“The Children’s Centers employ integrated multidisciplinary approaches to understand the complex risk factors that impact children’s health from the molecular and cellular level up to the systems level. Several of the Centers are conducting pioneering research investigating the role of gene-environment interactions in childhood diseases. The Centers are also developing innovative ways to investigate the role of environmental stressors. Most of the Centers focus on economically disadvantaged populations and communities of color.”

If you’re interested in how your child’s health is affected by environmental pollutions than the centers should be on your frequent reading to-do list. Right now at the center’s main site you can find an immense amount of research plus a news section that’s updated semi-often; although some of this news seems to be routed to the EPA’s homepage. You can also visit each of the centers individually for center specific news.

Coming up later today — more resources that combat environmental risks for kids and the winner of the Downsizing Your Home With Style Contest.

Coming up in December — Lifestyles Channel-wide events and more green winter fun.

Post from: Tree Hugging Family