Back to School with Seventh Generation (Giveaway)

As our children get ready to go back to school (or for the school the first time), we become more concerned about germs that we might have been during the summer when they were home. Did you know that 22 million school days are lost each year due to the common cold and flu? As many as 2.7 million bacterial are found per square inch on common school surfaces. Wow! As a parent and a teacher those two facts freak me out just a little bit a lot.

This school year, Seventh Generation is sharing tips from best-selling author and pediatrician, Dr. Alan Greene, to help parents protect their child’s health during back-to-school season. Dr. Greene suggests taking the following precautions:

Optimize the immune system

• Reap the benefits of probiotics like those found in yogurt. A recent study showed that children who received enough probiotics daily throughout the cold and flu season had a significant reduction in the number of illnesses they had and, when they did get sick, the symptoms were both milder and didn’t last as long.
• Be sure your child is getting plenty of vitamin D from the sun, from food, or from a supplement.
• Build a strong foundation. Good food, good sleep, and good physical activity all help the immune system to flourish.

Be wise about reducing unnecessary exposure to harmful germs

• Teach children the key times to clean their hands in the classroom. The most important times include after sneezing, coughing or using the restroom, upon leaving “high-risk” places (recess, naptime, play stations) and before meals or snacks.
• Sixty percent of teachers surveyed said that they request that parents donate disinfecting wipes to the classroom. Seventh Generation’s disinfecting wipes kill 99.99% of germs** naturally using the active ingredient thyme, a component of thyme oil which is derived from the herb thyme.
• Stress the importance of not touching their eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are often spread when a person touches something that is contaminated with germs and then touches his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.
• Demonstrate to your children how to cover their mouth and nose for every cough and sneeze. This simple maneuver has spectacular results in decreasing the spread of viruses and bacteria floating about the room, waiting to be inhaled.

Thanks to MyBlogSpark and Seventh Generation, we received an awesome back to school gift pack for home and the classroom that included a Seventh Generation backpack, two canisters of Seventh Generation disinfecting wipes  disinfecting multi-surface spray cleaner, facial tissue and paper towels, and you can win one too! You can keep this gift pack or send it to your child’s teacher. I assure you they will be ecstatic to receive this package (I’m a teacher..I know, and yes, I’m passing down our entire kit to my daughter’s teachers).

Disinfecting Multi-Surface Cleaner Product Details (from the bottle)

• Kills 99.99% of Germs Botanically (Influenza A, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enterica, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli on hard, non porous surfaces)
• Lemongrass & Thyme Scent
• Cleans, disinfects, and deodorizes
• Cuts Grease and Grime
• Will not harm hard, nonporous surfaces
• Made from botanically pure plant extracts
• Suitable for children’s toys, garbage cans, appliances, countertops, highchairs, and changing tables.

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Disinfecting Wipes (from the container)

• Kills 99.99% of Germs Botanically (Influenza A, Salmonella enterica, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa on hard, non porous surfaces)
• Lemongrass & Thyme Scent
• Quick and easy cleaning
• Disinfects while you clean
• Effectively controls odors
• Will not harm hard, nonporous surfaces
• Contains non-VOC-emitting ingredients
• Made from botanically pure plant extracts

18? Live in the US? Have a valid email address?  If you answered yes to all 3 of those questions, then please continue and enter for this fabulous Seventh Generation Gift Pack.

MANDATORY ENTRY

Share at least TWO tips for keeping kids healthy and germ-free.

BONUS ENTRIES (if you complete any of these, you must leave a comment for each one)

• Subscribe to my email feed.  (Current subscribers you can gain an entry too!)
• Follow me on Networked Blogs.
• Place my button in your sidebar (2 entries/leave 2 comments).
• Blog about this contest linking to this post (5 entries/5 comments).
• Follow me on Twitter AND tweet this contest (can do once a day for duration of contest/come back and comment each day with Twitter URL). Please include the Twitter hash tag @SeventhGen and #myblogspark in your tweet.
• Leave a relevant comment on any other non giveaway post (up to 4 comments). Leave a link to each post that you commented on in this post.
• Enter any other giveaway being hosted here. (5 entries/5 comments per giveaway)

Contest ends August 19 at 10 pm CST.  Winner will be selected using the And the Winner Is WordPress Plugin. Winner will be contacted by August 21 and will have 48 hours to contact me with mailing address.  At the end of 48 hours, if no contact has been made a new winner will be selected.

*Note: All information and giveaway were provided by MyBlogSpark and Seventh Generation. Opinions are completely my own.
**Refer to disinfecting product labels for full details

Other posts you may enjoy:

1. Back to School with Office Max
2. Back to School: Dealing with Bullying
3. End of the School Year