 |
|
Cleaning Tip:
Green Cleaning Starts with a Green Planning Process
By Mike Schaffer - President, Tornado Industries
Switching from conventional cleaning products to Greener alternatives is a healthy move for cleaning professionals, building occupants, and our environment. But the challenge for facility managers, as well as distributors and building service contractors, is to make sure the Green cleaning program is effective and addresses the specific needs of a facility.
This calls for a Green planning process. In some cases, the planning project can be quite simple and straight forward. However, if many facilities are involved or used for different purposes, such as on a college campus, this process can become much more involved.
However, in either case, many of the components of a Green planning process are similar. These include:
Identify the needs and goals of the facility and any unique cleaning-related problems or health concerns of building occupants, cleaning personnel, or the environment where the facility is located such as water use issues, sewage discharge requirements, or air quality issues, among others.
Look for cleaning products that have green certifications, such as the Carpet and Rug Institute’s (CRI) Green Label Program, as well as private manufacturers such as Tandus, for upright vacuums and carpet extractors. Evaluate current cleaning products used to clean the facility including floor machines, vacuum cleaners, carpet extractors, and cleaning chemicals. For enhanced indoor air quality, Tornado provides CRI certified vacuums with HEPA filtration such as the CV 30 , the CK LW 13/1 and the PV 6 Pac-Vac, as well as passive vacuum systems on high-speed burnishers such as Tornado’s Clean-Air Glazer 2000, and a complete line of low-moisture cylindrical brush automatic scrubbers and floor machines such as the new BR and BD family of Auto Scrubbers. Remember, Green cleaning involves ALL the products used for cleaning for both hard and soft floor care. An environmentally preferable cleaning chemical will help protect the environment better than a conventional cleaning chemical, but if a vacuum cleaner with poor filtration is used or a floor machine without a passive vacuum system, all the benefits of the Green cleaning chemical may be lost.
Here are a few helpful tips:
· View how cleaning tasks are performed in the facility. In many cases, more efficient cleaning systems and/or procedures such as green products that reduce environmental are healthier for cleaning workers.
· Discuss with cleaning professionals as well as building occupants why a Green cleaning program is going to be instituted. Stressing the health benefits of such a program is usually very helpful.
· Ask your jansan distributor for advice on Green cleaning. Many jansan distributors have taken classes, attending seminars, been involved in a variety of teaching programs to better understand all aspects of Green cleaning.
· Train your staff on the use of the new Green cleaning products, tools, and equipment. This is often an opportunity to also re-train cleaning workers on proper cleaning procedures. Many times, building occupants say their buildings are cleaner once Green cleaning products and equipment are used. However, many times it is not the products but the more efficient cleaning systems and procedures the cleaning workers have been taught.
|
