Green Cleaning in a Post-COVID Era
News Release
For Immediate Release
Green Cleaning in a Post-COVID Era
According to Steve Ashkin, long known as the "Father of Green Cleaning," some schools and commercial facilities are beginning to forget all they learned about effective and thorough cleaning as we enter a post-COVID era.
This includes realizing the value and health benefits of Green Cleaning
"Every day, I hear about organizations cutting back on their cleaning staff or asking their [custodial] workers to clean more square feet in the same amount of time," says Ashkin. "Asking fewer workers to do more is a setup for failure when it comes to cleaning for health."
He adds that some organizations may also be abandoning Green Cleaning. “This may be the result of "hygiene theater," explains Ashkin.
Hygiene theater refers to a period when just about anything and everything was used to clean facilities to prevent the spread of COVID. Many of these measures later proved costly, did not work, or even harmful.
Ashkin believes there are three key reasons organizations are scaling back on cleaning. These are:
1. Economic uncertainty. Many organizations are concerned about the economy, so they are scaling back now to reduce operating costs, including cleaning and maintenance costs.
2. Changes in office space occupancy. Many office buildings are economically depressed and struggling to re-invent themselves.
3. Post-pandemic complacency. Some hold the belief that now that the pandemic is over, Green Cleaning and advanced cleaning procedures learned during the pandemic to protect health are no longer needed.
Green Cleaning, so we are clear, is the use of cleaning products and techniques that have a reduced impact on the user, building users, and the environment. Still, they effectively remove soil and contaminants from surfaces.
To help ensure we don't abandon Green and effective cleaning in a post-COVID era, Ashkin suggests the following:
Continue selecting Green-certified cleaning solutions and products.
Measure cleaning performance more frequently using scientific tools such as ATP monitoring devices.
Hire enough workers to the job right; consider work loading strategies to ensure proper staffing needs.
Encourage more custodial training.
"Finally, we need cleaning contractors to speak up," says Ashkin. "If a facility manager is just focused on cutting costs, cleaning contractors must be their guide. Speak up, explain how focusing on costs can jeopardize human health."
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About The Ashkin Group and Stephen Ashkin
The Ashkin Group, LLC, is an internationally recognized consulting firm working to Green the professional cleaning industry. Their expertise is utilized by governments, policy makers, advocates, building owners, property management companies, labor unions, trade and professional associations, manufacturers, service providers, and janitorial product distributors worldwide.
Stephen P. Ashkin, founder of The Ashkin Group, is known as the Father of Green Cleaning. An author and a frequent public speaker, Steve’s commitment to Green Cleaning is more than a business: it is a passion, a calling, a mission in life—to transform the professional cleaning industry.
