CM/Spotlight: Sustainability Back To Basics With Green Cleaning Sometimes simple truly is effective. By: Steve Seneca I Steve Seneca is president of Philadelphia-based Pak-It LLC, a company provid-ing green cleaning solu-tions including Pak-It pre-measured cleaning concen-trates in water-soluble packets. For more informa-tion, please visit www.pakit.com. In simpler times, Grandma cleaned windows with vinegar and newspaper. Her reasons were probably two-fold: To reduce her exposure to harsh chemicals and to save money. By just using commonsense, Grandma was practicing green cleaning. The benefits of green cleaning are being touted across industries — from health care and schools to retailers, businesses and hotels. And, with green industries generating up to 8.5 million jobs in the U.S., green has gone main-stream. “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 impact,” says Robert Shoemaker, chemical industry consultant. The Green Cleaning Network defines green cleaning as, “Cleaning to protect health without harming the environment.” Many building service contractors (BSCs) are “going green” in their cleaning systems as they learn how cost-effective and beneficial the process can be. Most start by looking at environmentally friend-ly cleaners to reduce exposure to potentially haz-ardous chemical, biological and particulate con-taminants 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,” says Shoemaker. Generally, environmentally-friendly cleaners feature no or low VOCs, have low-toxicity, are noncorrosive and are biodegradable. If you are interested in green cleaning, there are three logical steps to the process: Plan; implement; and evaluate. for more info Visit www.cmmonline.com and type in search keyword: Sustainability . For more information on related products, visit www.cmmonline.com , select SUPPLIER SEARCH from the main navigation bar, and enter keyword: Green . Green cleaning encompasses effective cleaning to create safe buildings and healthy employees. Plan Start by considering your “cleaning carbon foot-print” and how to re-duce it. There are five different areas to be consid-ered: Employees; the environment; the economic effects; how you clean; and new technology that can be imple-mented. Using green products can greatly reduce employee loss of productivity, 34 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • June 2009
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