How about the sun? Again the first strategy is to avoid it first.  Hats and long sleeved clothing are a great start. They even have clothing that contains a high spf, so that you can avoid putting on sunscreen underneath them.  .

Smart camps will schedule activities that keep the kids out of the sun during the 11am -1pm time frame when the suns rays are most harmful.

Just like bug sprays, sunscreens have come under a great deal of scrutiny in the past few years for their chemical content, and the jury is still out on many of the specific ingredients.  We’ll stick to a few guidelines here:

1) You’ll want to avoid parabens, as you would in other skincare

products.

2) Choose something “natural’, without a huge list of chemicals in it.

3) Avoid “nanotechnology”.  We’ll address this later in a separate blog, but essentially it means that the particles are so small that they can be absorbed right into your bloodstream – not a good thing.  Avoid products that say things like “micronized”.

Here are a few other tips to green their trip:

1) Pack natural shampoos and conditioners that are phosphate-free and biodegradable, so when they end up in the water, they don’t wreak havoc on the ecosystem.

2) Pack a reusable water bottle, and encourage kids to refill at the water cooler, avoiding disposable cups and bottles.

3) Send along a crank flashlight instead.  No batteries are required, just a little hand power keeps this flashlight shining brightly.

I hope your kids have a great time at camp and come back with a renewed commitment to take care of our planet.  And I hope you’re able to get some sleep while they’re gone

Tags: camp, insect repellent, shampoo, sunscreen, water bottle

This entry is filed under Environment Issues, Health Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.