The heightened awareness of the importance of hygiene and the need for effective cleaning methods has led to an increased focus on green cleaning.
What is Green Cleaning?
Green cleaning emphasizes using environmentally friendly and sustainable products, equipment, and methods.
This approach not only helps to protect the environment, but also provides a safer and healthier working, learning, and living environment.
Green cleaning also encompasses a holistic approach to cleaning, taking into account the entire cleaning process, including the production and disposal of cleaning products.
Benefits of Green Cleaning
Green cleaning has several benefits, both for the environment and human health.
Using environmentally friendly cleaning products helps reduce the number of harmful chemicals released into the environment, reducing the risk of pollution and protecting the air, water, and soil.
Additionally, green cleaning products are often free from toxic chemicals, making them safer for cleaning staff and the people who use the buildings and facilities being cleaned.
Another benefit of green cleaning is improved indoor air quality.
Using harsh chemicals in traditional cleaning products can contribute to indoor air pollution, leading to respiratory problems, headaches, and other health issues.
According to the American Lung Association;
Many cleaning supplies or household products can irritate the eyes or throat, or cause headaches and other health problems.
Some products release dangerous chemicals, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
VOCs are chemicals that vaporize at room temperature. Even natural fragrances such as citrus can react to produce dangerous pollutants indoors.
VOCs and other chemicals released when using cleaning supplies contribute to chronic respiratory problems, allergic reactions and headaches.
Studies are underway to assess how these chemicals affect people who have asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Studies also link exposure to chemicals from cleaning supplies to occupational asthma and other respiratory illnesses.
Using green cleaning products reduces the risk of indoor air pollution, improving the quality of the air people breathe and reducing the risk of health problems.
In addition to the environmental and health benefits, green cleaning can lead to cost savings.
Using environmentally friendly cleaning products can be more cost-effective in the long term, as they often last longer, require less water and energy, and are less toxic to the environment.
According to a study published by the San Francisco Environment Department;
[...] institutional green cleaning products are generally seen as cost competitive or slightly more expensive than their conventional counterparts.
However, improved cleaning and purchasing practices offer opportunities for cost savings.
Microfiber mop case studies have shown that the technology outperforms conventional mops, is cost effective over time, and offers various beneficial qualities, including up to 95% water and chemical savings and less strenuous work conditions for custodial staff.
The use of concentrated products and automatic dilution equipment can offer financial savings and health benefits for custodial staff as well.
By reassessing disinfectant needs versus application habits, a medical center in Minnesota was about to reduce disinfectant use by 63%, saving over $20,000 annually.
Finally, there are important, but hard to quantify, benefits for building occupants, such as reduced illnesses, better job performance, and decreased absenteeism.
Combatting Greenwashing
One of the most significant challenges facing the cleaning industry's advancement of safer, healthier cleaning products is the unscrupulous practice of greenwashing.
Greenwashing is the process of conveying a false impression or misleading information about how a company’s products are environmentally sound.
Greenwashing involves making an unsubstantiated claim to deceive consumers into believing that a company’s products are environmentally friendly or have a greater positive environmental impact than they actually do.
What Is Greenwashing? How It Works, Examples, and Statistics
The most effective method for consumers to combat greenwashing and avoid purchasing products unlikely to generate desirous cleaning outcomes is to look for one of several third-party certification labels--specifically:
- EWG Certified - Products must abide by regulatory restrictions and industry standards, prohibiting using ingredients that have been deemed potentially hazardous to human health and the environment by government agencies and independent research organizations.
- UL Ecologo - The UL seal indicates that a product has a comparatively reduced environmental footprint based on factors such as the manufacturer's energy consumption, water usage, waste production, and potential adverse impacts on indoor air quality and the health of individuals with asthma.
- Safer Choice - The EPA's designation process considers not only the potential impact of a cleaning product's ingredients on human health and the environment but also the extent to which its packaging is produced and transported through environmentally sustainable means.
- Green Seal - The organization's badge specifically recognizes the environmental sustainability of a product, taking into account its potential impact on aquatic life, biodegradability, and responsible use of ozone-depleting substances, as well as a commitment to avoiding or minimizing animal testing.
Avoiding Sustainability and Hygiene Theater
A significant driving force behind the present sustainability push was the disastrous approach to facility safety implemented during the early stages of the pandemic, which resulted in the widespread, unnecessary, and hazardous use of corrosive disinfectants, which did nothing to stop the spread of COVID.
Hygiene theater--cleaning strictly for the purpose of being seen and appeasing facility occupants without actually improving hygiene or increasing occupant safety, and likely doing the exact opposite--is now widely derided by an environmentally and healthy hygiene-aware workforce and consumer base.
A similar trend--sustainability theater--appears to be emerging where organizations feel they can profit by trading on sustainability commitments to workers and local communities but never deliver meaningful action.
Avoiding these trends requires:
- Establishing clearly defined sustainability goals and milestones.
- Experienced leadership.
- Community outreach.
- Coordination with all departments, especially the facilities maintenance and housekeeping teams.
- Ongoing monitoring and testing.
References & Resources
- Identifying Greener Cleaning Products
- Should You Buy Green Cleaners?
- Sustainability Theater
- Green Cleaning in a Post-COVID Era: Where Does the Industry Stand?
Takeaway
Green cleaning is an essential concept in the post-COVID era, providing safer and healthier facilities while protecting the environment.
Increasing education and awareness about green cleaning and providing incentives and regulations can create a cleaner and healthier world for future generations.
Implementing successful green sustainable cleaning practices in your organization will require time, training, experience, and patience.
Onboarding and managing the requisite labor and material resources necessary to ensure the highest standards of cleanliness are achieved and maintained may prove cost-prohibitive for many organizations.
Outsourcing is a proven method for onboarding highly in-demand cleaning and disinfection services and experience for a fraction of the price of maintaining a similar service in-house.
If you would like more information regarding the effectiveness of high-performance infection prevention and control measures, or if you would like to schedule a free, no-obligation on-site assessment of your facility's custodial needs, contact us today for a free quote!
In Bakersfield, CA, call (661) 437-3253
In Fresno, CA, call (559) 206-1059
In Valencia, CA, or Santa Clarita, CA, call (661) 437-3253
In Palmdale, CA, or Lancaster, CA, call (661) 371-4756
