Renewable Cleaning And The Oath By: David Mudarri Hippocratic Taking advantage of new technologies and clearing the air on traditional cleaning practices. In their book, Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green , Jay Conrad Levinson and Shel Horowitz show con-vincingly that firms that are eco-friendly, ethical and honest in their business operations and mar-keting are more successful than their traditional profit maximizing counterparts. This is because firms are increasingly being judged not only on the quality of what they sell, but also for what they represent. Becoming known for the ethical principles that your company follows is a very successful market-ing strategy. RC takes full advantage of new technologies that significantly reduce chemical use to clean and sani-tize, lowering the concentration of germs and mold on surfaces, and following a continuous improve-ment program based on measured and document-ed levels of cleanliness. Why is that important? I David Mudarri, Ph.D., is a native of Boston, Massachusetts, devoted to advancing public health through indoor air quality education and state-of-the-art processes. He is recognized as a national indoor air qual-ity expert and was a senior advisor within the EPA on indoor air quality. He authored a number of EPA studies. He currently consults for public and private sector organizations on a variety of healthy indoor environment matters. He can be contacted at Mudarri.David@Yahoo. com. Find more at www. RenewableCleaning.org. An Educational Example Consider what might happen in a typical subur-ban community with a relatively new and an older school. The principal and parents of the newer school are probably proud of their school and perhaps the principal is intent on keeping it looking new. Families have moved into the neighborhood as a result of the school’s good reputation, and student test scores are among the best in the school district. Consider that over the course of several years the principal of the newer school notices that her test scores have gradually become less favorable com-pared to the neighboring school, and her school isn’t looking so new and shiny like it used to. She is flummoxed and a little angry and doesn’t know what’s going on. Informally she starts collecting information on students and asking teachers and children about their general feelings about each school. Here is what she may likely discover. Most are satisfied with the school buildings but are not as impressed as before because the interior is showing signs of aging. There has been an inexplicable, imprecise, gen-eral sense of lethargy or malady in her school com-pared to the older neighboring school whose occu-pants seemed to be more alive and well. Teachers and students in her newer school have higher absentee rates overall, but especially during Taking An Oath This principle is being promoted by the “Oath Proj-ect” calling for a shift in attitude and orientation of the business community that is embodied in what they call the “Hippocratic Oath for Business” or the “Green Hippocratic Oath” — first, do no harm to the environment. Renewable Cleaning TM (RC) is a non-profit or-ganization that embodies that attitude, follows its principles and has joined many others in signing that oath. In our last article about RC, we explained how the organization is helping to change the cleaning paradigm. Ruben Rives, like a growing number of business professionals, has signed the “Green Hippocratic Oath” and is participating in this new movement to do no harm, be fair and respectful to all parties, promote health and welfare of clients and society and help preserve the environment for future gen-erations. His cleaning paradigm is to clean for the health of occupants and workers and not just for appear-ance, and to promote sustainability indoors and outside. for more info Visit www.cmmonline.com and type in search key-word: Renewable Cleaning . For more information on related products, visit www.cmmonline.com , select DIRECTORY from the main navigation bar, and enter keyword: Sustainability . 28 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • January 2014 Image courtesy of Jesse Kunerth/iStock/Thinkstock
CMM – Archives January 2014: 28
