GREEN CLEANING
It can be as easy as P-I-E (Plan, Implement, Evaluate)
“It’s not easy being green,” according to Kermit the Frog. But times have changed since the famed Muppet lamented being green. Today consumers embrace the green factor -- with hybrid cars, recycling efforts, reducing landfill waste, xeriscaping, and water conservation.
“Green cleaning is more than just switching to eco-friendly cleaning products. It encompasses effective cleaning to create safe buildings, healthy employees and reduce the environmental impacts,” said Robert Shoemaker, chemical industry consultant. The Green Cleaning Network defines green cleaning as cleaning to protect health without harming the environment, including policies, procedures, training and shared responsibility efforts that minimize the impact of cleaning materials on the health of building occupants and protects the environment as a whole.
Cleaning is an area that has traditionally used potentially harmful chemicals to create safe, healthy environments. But the green cleaning movement is picking up steam in the retail industry as storeowners and building managers learn how cost-effective and beneficial the process can be.
Energized by the benefits they’ve seen from using green cleaning products, some facility managers are embracing the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) program. In addition to using green cleaners, LEED standards provide a holistic approach to environmental sustainability and include landscaping, lighting, pest control, storm water management, and roofing efficiency.
Why the switch to green cleaning?
There are many reasons why retailers are “going green” in their cleaning systems. Most start by looking at environmentally friendly cleaners to reduce exposure to potentially hazardous chemical, biological, and particulate contaminants for workers and customers.
“Cleaning products can adversely affect indoor air quality and worker health since many contain high levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which have been linked to respiratory irritation and headaches,” said Shoemaker.
Generally, environmentally friendly cleaners feature no or low VOCs, have low-toxicity, are noncorrosive and are biodegradable. Once they get started, retailers discover that a green cleaning program offers many additional benefits that are good for business:
- Lower cleaning supply costs due to source reduction and reduced shipping costs.
- Increased cleaning efficiencies and performance and lower overall cleaning costs.
- Reduced employee absenteeism.
- Increased worker safety, higher worker morale and productivity.
This May over 5,000 Illinois public and private elementary schools made the switch to green cleaners to comply with the Illinois Green Cleaning Schools Act. The law intends to promote a healthier environment for students, staff, visitors, and cleaning crews. Schools that made the switch earlier have noticed an improvement. At Viking Middle School nurse Joan Brumm has seen a 50 percent reduction in illness and asthma attacks. And according to Kate Tomford, senior policy adviser for Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, there has been “evidence at some schools that the attendance rates have increased when green cleaning policies are implemented.”
You can have your P-I-E and benefit from it too
So you’re interested in green cleaning.
It’s as easy as P-I-E – Plan, Implement and Evaluate.
Plan
Start by considering your company’s “cleaning carbon footprint” and how to reduce it. Factors to evaluate:
- Cost of employee loss of productivity, absenteeism, and increased health care costs due to chemical exposure. Using green products can boost your bottom line, employee satisfaction and retention.
- Environmental impact of toxic cleaning chemicals. “Look at the labels of your cleaning solutions. Do they meet EPP (Environmentally Preferable Purchasing designated through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) standards? According to the EPA, environmentally preferable means “products or services that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products or services that serve the same purpose.” The comparison applies to raw materials, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, use, reuse, operation, maintenance, and disposal.
- Cost to manufacture, ship, and warehouse your cleaning chemicals, including the environmental impact of the product packaging. Consider buying chemicals in concentrated form to reduce the environmental impact of excess packaging and to save on freight and storage. This also reduces greenhouse gas production as fewer truckloads of chemicals will be transported.
- Cost of wasted chemicals due to misuse or “glug-glug.” Consider buying pre-measured chemical systems to eliminate waste.
- Impact of empty container disposal on the environment and storage space. Plan a recycling program for used containers and consider products that reduce packaging. Some manufacturers offer portion controlled concentrates and dosing systems; others provide concentrates in water soluble packets that dissolve in water, eliminating waste, chance of spillage and human interaction with the concentrated product.
- Review cleaning procedures to determine if you are “over cleaning.” Are you stripping your floors or shampooing your carpets too frequently? Put a program in place to ensure you clean adequately (e.g., shallow-scrub and recoat to maintain floors instead of complete stripping).
- Research available technology to reduce the spread of germs -- and the need to clean certain areas. Consider installing sensor-activated lights, toilets, faucets, soap and towel dispensers.
- Investigate better cleaning equipment and procedures. Many green cleaning guidelines emphasize purchasing sustainable cleaning products, materials and equipment. Start by reducing the amount of dirt and other particulate matter that enter buildings by evaluating building entrances and implementing protective entry systems such as entrance matting and/or drop-through entrance grids. Products such as microfiber mops and cloths reduce the need for cleaning chemicals.
- If you use a cleaning contractor, ask them how they can assist you in implementing a green cleaning program.
- Consider establishing a labor/management environmental committee. A great way to brainstorm and consider multiple sides of the issues. Communication is crucial so everyone understands their role and how they can contribute to the success of the program.
Implement
- Inform employees of the new initiative and discuss the health, safety and environmental benefits of the new standards. The most successful green cleaning programs include the commitment of building management, facility employees, occupants, visitors and vendors. It pays off to take the time to properly educate all involved.
- Consider starting small -- with select stores or locations. A test run will help you work out any kinks and ready the plan for implementation on a larger scale.
- Decide how you will evaluate the program and set up a practical way to capture the data. Set a date for implementation and another for evaluation. Plan how you will receive feedback. It’s important to have a baseline to determine the true success of the program.
- Select green-certified products from vendors. Products that carry the DfE label have been screened by the EPA’s Design for the Environment (DfE) scientific review team and are certified to contain only those ingredients that pose the least concern among chemicals in their class. For more information, visit http://www.epa.gov/dfe/
- Train employees. Start by restocking your cleaning supply area with the new cleaners. Graphic posters (wall cleaning charts) with correct product usage clearly convey messages. Review the procedures. Many vendors can assist with training and materials.
- Use color-coded refillable bottles with proper OSHA labeling. These are helpful in staff training and eliminate cross contamination.
- Ensure proper labeling and dispensing of all chemicals.
- Consider purchasing cleaning kits which are customized with just enough product to clean the store for a set period of time. This allows you to monitor chemical overuse or underuse in evaluating your cleaning program.
- Start a recycling program for used containers.
- Give yourself a pat on the back. Inform customers of your green initiatives. Market your new cleaning approach…preserving the environment is a hot topic. By patronizing your stores, customers can feel good about the contribution they are making to protecting the environment. Consider posting signs in your stores about your green cleaning efforts. Customers will notice! It’s good for business and may help differentiate you from your competition in the mind of eco-friendly consumers.
Evaluate
You’ve planned, you’ve implemented, now you have to make sure the goals and expectations are being met. Evaluating provides an excellent opportunity to identify areas of opportunity and areas of success.
- During and after the test run evaluate feedback and cleaning efforts. How do the employees think it is working? Would they do anything differently? Do customers see a difference in cleanliness?
- Document amounts and types of toxic chemicals eliminated and reduced. How much in savings have been realized (include savings on storage and shipping)?
- Document environmental impact of new cleaning system. What toxic chemicals have you eliminated?
- Evaluate improvements in worker safety, health and morale.
- Review purchasing efficiencies and new cost of cleaning. Work with suppliers/cleaning contractors to make changes if necessary.
- Enjoy the benefits of green cleaning and knowing that your company is contributing to the health and safety of your customers, employees, and preserving the environment.
- Promote your green cleaning initiative as a good business practice and model for other retailers.
A green cleaning program can benefit your company, employees, shareholders and the environment and retailers are finding that going green can be good for their customers and good for business.
For additional information on LEED cleaning guidelines visit www.usgbc.org and for details about the DfE program, visit online at www.epa.gov/dfe.
Steve Seneca is president of Pak-It LLC, a Philadelphia-based company. Pak-It LLC provides green cleaning solutions including Pak-It pre-measured cleaning concentrates in water-soluble packets.
www.pakit.com
Reprinted from Floor Care Professonal, July 2009 |
