ECO-Friendly daycare and Preschool
At Blue Leaf School, we focus on providing a safe, healthy, and eco-friendly environment for our children and staff. From air purifiers and the mats they nap on, to the food on their plates and the water in their cups, it all shapes how we grow. Here is a look at the choices we make so your child can learn, play and rest in a clean, green and healthy space.
“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
– Jane Goodall
Healthy for Children, Kind to the Planet
Children explore their surroundings with all of their senses at our preschool. That means more touching, more intentional breathing, and more experience with the elements they find in their environment. With this in mind, we take the extra time and steps to design our spaces to ensure we are providing the cleanest, healthiest, and most environmentally conscious options for our precious little ones and the caregivers that support them throughout the day.
A Healthier Place to Rest and Play
The spaces where children sleep, crawl and play get our closest attention.
Organic Infant Bedding
Every crib in our infant room has an organic mattress and organic sheets, so babies sleep close to natural materials instead of the synthetic finishes common in conventional bedding.
Floors Chosen for Clean Air
We carefully selected our padded floors to keep off gassing to a minimum, protecting the air right at crawling level, where infants and young children spend so much of their day.
Wood in Our Classrooms
Whenever we choose something new for the school, we consider its sustainability first. Our tables, chairs, shelves and indoor play pieces are wood, a natural material that lasts for years.
Natural Wool Rugs
Rugs beneath our cribs and in our classrooms are wool, a natural and renewable fiber, in place of synthetic carpet.
The Cleanest Nap Mats
Toddlers and preschoolers rest on mats made for child care classrooms. They are free of PVC, chlorinated TRIS and fire retardants, and are Indoor Advantage Gold certified for indoor air quality. See the mat details
Biodegradable Gloves
Did you know that child care staff must wear gloves every time sunscreen is applied, a diaper is changed or food is served? That adds up to a lot of gloves. At Blue Leaf we choose biodegradable gloves that are free of plastic.
Clean Food and Clean Water
What goes into growing bodies matters, and so does what it is served on.
Vegetarian Meals
Every meal at Blue Leaf is vegetarian and made fresh in our own kitchen. Plant based eating is one of the simplest ways a school can lighten its footprint on the planet.
Glass and Metal Dishware
Meals are served on glass and metal. Our whole school holds a glass waiver, which allows glass bottles in the infant room, glass cups for milk and glass dishware throughout the school.
Growing Our Own Food
Children plant, tend and harvest food from our garden beds. Through our partnership with Boulder County’s Farm to ECE program, gardening and nutrition activities are part of every week, so children learn where food comes from.
Stainless Steel Cutting Boards
We prepare food on stainless steel cutting boards instead of plastic ones, which can shed microplastics into food.
Local Milk
Our milk comes from Longmont Dairy Farm, right here in Boulder County, delivered in returnable glass bottles.
And we recycle the plastic milk caps!
See Milk Caps For Moola down below!
Clean Drinking Water
Our drinking water is multi-filtered and independent laboratory testing found no detectable PFAS, the long lasting “forever chemicals” that are so prevalent in today’s world. We voluntarily began testing for them in 2025.
Less Waste, Every Day
Small swaps, repeated every day, add up to a big difference for the planet.
Reusable Hand Towels
Children dry their hands with reusable towels instead of disposable paper towels. Each towel is used once, then washed.
Who Gives a Crap Toilet Paper
Sustainability reaches all the way to the bathroom. Our toilet paper is made from recycled paper or bamboo, and the company donates half of its profits to bring clean water and toilets to communities in need. See their impact
Composting Together
Food scraps go into the compost, not the trash. Every day we work with the children as they scrape their plates into the compost, supporting Boulder’s sustainability efforts and building habits that last.
Microfiber Cloths
Since opening, we have cleaned our changing tables with microfiber cloths. Like our hand towels, each cloth is used once and then laundered, so things stay hygienic without a constant stream of disposable paper towels.
Plastic Free Laundry and Dishes
We use laundry detergent sheets and Blue Land dish soap to cut down on single use plastic bottles.
From Trash to Toys
In partnership with our amazing families, we collect ribbons, wrapping paper, cardboard and paper towel rolls. These everyday objects become new provocations and experiences for the children.
Caring for Our Land
Our yard is a living classroom, and we care for it like one.
Certified Wildlife Habitat®
Our grounds are certified by the National Wildlife Federation. That means our yard provides the four things local wildlife needs to thrive: food, water, cover and places to raise young. It is also cared for with sustainable gardening practices. Birds, bees and butterflies share the space our children learn in.
Eco-Healthy Child Care®
Blue Leaf is an endorsed Eco-Healthy Child Care® program through the Children’s Environmental Health Network. Endorsement requires meeting at least 30 of 35 environmental health best practices, covering air quality, safer plastics, cleaning products, pesticides and more.
Electric Tools
The majority of tools we purchase and use on our property are electric, which means cleaner air and quieter play spaces. Fewer gallons of gasoline means a healthier environment for the world and we try to do our part wherever possible.
Milk Caps for Mooola
OVER 1,760
milk caps collected for Longmont Dairy Farm and counting
Our pledge: every cent we earn goes toward new books for our school. Our latest return of 1,760 caps adds $88 to the book fund.
Help us grow the library!
Save your caps from Longmont Dairy milk, juice, lemonade and more.
Drop them in the milk cap drop-box at Blue Leaf. Caps from grandparents, neighbors and friends are welcome too. Blue Leaf’s book collection appreciates it!
CO LIC 1775270 | Blue Leaf® School © 2026
Boulder Daycare and Preschool
5524 Baseline Rd
Boulder, CO 80303