Smart Step for Green Businesses on Earth Day

April 9, 2012 - PRLog -- Where should your company start its Green program?  The common mistake is taking on this herculean task in the wrong way.  If you start with a carbon audit, overhaul of the electric system, or alternative energy project; the cost and time can be staggering.  This is the common problem of starting at the wrong place in the process.

Who wants to begin learning Karate with black belts or competing against Tiger Woods on the first outing?  Regardless of the encouragement to "Go Green" in a big way hoopla, there is a smart way to get on track as a Green business.

Are you shocked if I suggest that one of the best ways to start your Green program is to hire a Green certified janitorial service?  This may require some background, and it starts with a basic definition of the meaning of "Green".  You might know that "sustainability" is primarily about "the better management of our resources."  Green is associated, but refers to the health of the people, community, and world that we inhabit.

There are more than 75,000 janitorial services in America hiring more than one million workers.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ranks indoor air quality among the top five environmental risks and links it, in part, to cleaning product exposure. The average janitor uses an estimated 28 gallons of chemicals per year.

The cleaning industry uses an estimated 5 billion pounds of chemicals each year and many of these cleaning products have significant adverse impacts on indoor air quality, human health, and the environment. For example:
  - Acids from toilet bowl cleaners may cause burns to the skin and blindness to the eye.
  - Traditional glass cleaners contain a form of glycol ethers known to be a skin absorbing poison.
  - Some industrial and household cleaning products can create a respiratory hazard when used in poorly ventilated areas.
  - Some cleaning agents contain chemical substances that can harm the earth's protective ozone layer or toxic chemicals that are persistent in the environment and do not degrade easily.

This is a very short list of the potentially-harmful toxic chemicals brought into the building each and every day.  This chemicals impact the Indoor Air Quality, but the real impact is that workers, students, and visitors are exposed to a toxic cloud that is invisible but deadly.  Guess who pays the real price for non-Green cleaning services?

We first saw the impact of air on workers with second-hand smoke.  We saw it again with lead and asbestos.  We are just learning on the impact of mold and the other toxins from new paint, carpet, and furniture.  What most people do not understand is that the air we breathe is a Universal Problem that is nearly totally ignored.

What better place to start your company's Green program than to require that your cleaning or janitorial service is Green certified from a reputable third-party authority?  There is a great deal of wisdom on this basic step.  Your company already has it in the budget, so it should the simple and smart things to do right away.  Frankly, this important step in developing a Green business couldn't be easier or more affordable.

Do not be deceived by self-asserted Green claims however.  The FTC now strongly asserts that any legitimate claims for Green should be supported from a third-party review.  This has been the stand of the product-neutral Green Clean Institute from the very beginning.  

Simply put, make the Green certification part of the hiring requirement on the next cycle of contracting or bid submissions.  The Green Clean Institute has offered a very helpful "Green Clause" that can be easily incorporated in the RFP or contract offered.  [http://www.greencleaninstitute.com/blog/green-clause-rfp]

The process should end with a Green certified janitorial service, but this is perhaps the best possible starting point.  Everyone from the president of the company to the person running the copy machine breathes the air.  This goes on day after day and year after year.  The EPA says that Americans spend 90% of their time indoors and that the indoor air is 5 to 6 times worse than the outside air.

We pay the price for this missed health opportunity over the remainder of our lives.  Companies with poor indoor air quality will have less productive employees, more sick days, and more health claims.  In later life, long-term exposure can bring on dread diseases of cancer, respiratory illnesses, and nervous system diseases.

Why pay for a service that literally tears years off the lives of each and every employee, when the same money could be used to hire  a Green certified janitorial service?  Find a Green certified janitorial service at http://www.greenjanitor.net.  Go Green and allow everyone to have a better life today and many years into the future.

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Green Clean Institute offers professional Green cleaning training to inhouse or outside janitorial services. The Green Clean Institute firm certification is the best way to be certain that your cleaning service is a Green operation. http://www.greencleaninstitute.com