Sustainable Cleaning: What It Is and Why It is Necessary
As the ISSA Show® North America is set to begin, this is an opportune time to clarify what sustainable cleaning is all about.
Typically, when cleaning professionals, carpet cleaning technicians, and building owners and managers hear the word "sustainable" or "sustainability" in reference to cleaning, they think about Green Cleaning solutions.
This is not entirely correct. The key aspect of Green Cleaning solutions that makes them more sustainable is the fact that they are typically made from renewable resources and have no petroleum byproducts, commonly found in traditional cleaning solutions.
However, sustainable cleaning is much more.
One of the first aspects of sustainable cleaning is merely asking: does this cleaning task need to be performed? For instance, the requests for proposals (RFPs), also known as "tenders," often specify that hard surface floors be stripped and refinished twice per year or more. By taking steps to stretch refinishing cycles to twelve and even 18 months, we are doing the following:
• Not using cleaning solutions often made from non-renewable resources, including petroleum.
• Reducing the need for water in cleaning, which can be a crucial concern in areas of the world now experiencing water shortages, helping protect vital natural resources
• Using mops and similar tools that must shipped requiring fuel that releases greenhouse gases.
• Not using floor machine that require considerable electricity to operate. When stripping a floor, the energy necessary for these machines is likely more than the amount used for just polishing the floor.
Sustainable Carpet Cleaning
The same is true of carpet cleaning. In many situations, the carpet in the C-suite will remain clean and healthy if cleaned once per year. But often the RFP requires that C-suite carpet be cleaned two or more times per year, even though the need is not there.
Other Ways to Make Cleaning Sustainable
Determining what tasks and areas of a facility need to be cleaned and how often is a significant step in reducing cleaning's impact on the environment and bringing sustainability into the cleaning process. Here are some additional ways to do this:
Cold water carpet extractors. At this point, several effective cleaning solutions work well with cold water. Using a cold water extractor is effective and reduces energy consumption.
No-chemical cleaning systems. The use of ozone-generating systems and engineered water to clean surfaces often eliminates the need for cleaning solutions, packaging, shipping, and fuel.
Hybrid or electric cars. Switching to hybrid or electric cars eliminates the need for fuel. Plus, it can reduce carbon emissions by more than 90 percent and nitrogen oxide emissions by as much as 60 percent.
Equipment maintenance. Equipment, whether floor machines, carpet extractors, or vacuum cleaners, last longer and perform more efficiently when maintained regularly. Plus, they often use less electricity. If the equipment includes a maintenance plan, adhere to it.
Sustainability in Your Own Business
Our sustainability focus so far has been primarily on reducing the need for energy, fuel, and natural resources in professional cleaning and reducing cleaning's impact on the environment. But there are four more components of sustainable cleaning we need to address.
These are the following:
Efficiency
Efficiency refers to long-term changes that help a business reduce consumption and operate more effectively, which results in cost savings. For instance, the largest expenditure for cleaning professionals is labor. Proper training teaches workers to perform their tasks faster and more effectively, improving worker productivity, using natural resources more sparingly, and reducing waste.
People
In many parts of the country, cleaning professionals outsource cleaning to sub-contractors. Nothing is wrong with this if it is done legally and equitably. But all too often, it is not. All workers, whether subcontractors or employees, must be paid fairly, equitably, with benefits, and dignity.
Profit
Sustainability in cleaning means making money. Businesses operate more efficiently, as discussed earlier, which helps reduce overall operating costs. It also involves charging clients fairly for your services, transparency in business operations, and ensuring all business practices comply with all government regulations.
Proving Sustainability
We've covered a lot here. However, there is something else we must add.
The time is coming when cleaning professionals will need to prove they are operating their business more sustainably to be awarded cleaning contracts.
We see this happening a lot today. This means sustainability is no longer something they may want to do --- it is becoming something they must do.
Stephen P. Ashkin is the father of green cleaning and president of The Ashkin Group. He is considered the professional cleaning industry's leading advocate for promoting sustainability. Steve can be reached through his company website.
