With the ongoing COVID pandemic, many facilities have had to increase their commercial cleaning needs to keep up with the ever-changing recommended practices for cleaning. With this increase in commercial cleaning, the question of the long-term implications of the use of products with excessively hazardous ingredients such as alkyl phenol, ethoxylates, phosphorus, and even nitrogen is paramount. These common cleaning product components can spread into the environment in various ways – including waterways. Due to the increasing awareness of the environmental impacts of commercial cleaning practices, many facilities can benefit from using green commercial cleaning services.
What Makes Something “Green”
We consider things “green” when they have been curated with the intention of doing minimal – or no – harm to the environment. This means that it has been tested and proven to be less hazardous. To cater to the changing market, many companies will deem their products as “eco-friendly” or “environmentally friendly” without specifying or indicating what qualifies them for that designation. To help consumers actively identify products or services as “green,” the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released two specific designating labels for cleaning products that have been proven to be less hazardous to the environment – the Safer Choice label program and the Design for the Environment label program. These labels help consumers easily identify if the cleaning products are truly “green” or not.
Green Commercial Cleaning Practices
When selecting the right green commercial cleaning services for your facility, it is incredibly important to take note of the types of products and ingredients being used, as well as the kinds of green cleaning practices used. A few tell-tale signs of a “green” commercial cleaner include:
Water conservation
Using only as much product as required
Product hazard awareness
By conserving water usage during cleaning practices, you can save water, which can be especially beneficial in areas that experience droughts. Additionally, by being aware of water use during commercial cleaning, you are also preventing the amount of water runoff damage and pollution occurring – which is incredibly important as waterway contamination can quickly spread hundreds of miles from the original site. This also ties into product hazard awareness because when commercial cleaners must use the occasional “heavy duty” hazard-filled product to get tough jobs done, it is important that the products are not being washed down drains or directed into water systems. At the same time, it is also important to be aware of how you are cleaning your tools and appliances used to conduct the cleaning in order to avoid runoff contamination.
Benefits of Green Commercial Cleaning Services
Using a green commercial cleaner for your facility can immensely benefit the environment and your workplace. Many cleaning products used in mass amounts tend to have many chemicals intended to target large stains, spills, and messes. These products often contain more hazardous materials than necessary to complete the job. These chemicals can be released into the surrounding area via the air and maybe undetectable visually and odor-wise. Over time, the overuse of non-green cleaning products and practices can harm those who frequent the facility, including employees, guests, and even the cleaning crew themselves. These hazardous ingredients and non-green cleaning products are also more likely to damage or corrode surfaces much quicker due to excessive chemicals. Contracting a green commercial cleaning service means reducing the risk of exposure for your employees and guests, but it is also better for the cleaning service employees.
As for environmental benefits, contracting a green commercial cleaner for your facility will automatically benefit the surrounding environment. This lowers your company’s environmental impact on air quality and reduces how much you contribute to ozone depletion. At the same time, you are reducing the harm to aquatic species of plants and animals by choosing a green commercial cleaner. Because green commercial cleaners are using products and methods that are certified green, there are fewer hazardous chemicals released into the waterways nearby, which can be toxic and cause irritation to both aquatic species and humans who come into contact with the contaminated water.
The bottom line is that a green commercial cleaner can bring your facility many benefits, from air quality control to water conservation savings and protecting the environment; the benefits are endless. Green commercial cleaning services can make a huge difference, especially for large facilities requiring many products to get the job done. The environmental benefits will be on a larger scale as well because making the switch to green cleaners for large, sprawling facilities can make a world of difference – especially when it comes to industries that, by nature, emit more pollutants and hazards into the surrounding areas.