The newest trend of this century is to be “green.” That means that people tend to waste less, be more conscious of their choices, and try to help the environment.
One area that has especially benefitted from the new green emphasis is cleaning. We spend most of our lives in homes, apartments, schools, vehicles, and business buildings. Because we live indoors, internal air quality is crucial to our health. As such, we want to make sure our buildings are cleaned in ways that do not eventually hurt us.
What is green cleaning? It is cleaning that does not harm our health or our environment.
In years past, spring-cleaning could actually make indoor environments toxic. Grandma’s cleaners were not the best for us. Many of the old-fashioned cleaning products were petroleum based. They cleaned well, but they also did damage.
Chemical products of just a few years ago gave off harsh fumes and left annoying residues. Did you ever get a headache from just one whiff? Did your mother have to use rubber gloves when she was cleaning?
Recently, many brands of safe cleaners have become available on store shelves. They are starting to gain popularity. Just last year, green product sales increased by 16%.
Nowadays, most safe cleaners are made without petroleum. Many are manufactured from renewable resources and are non-toxic and biodegradable. Your commercial cleaning vendor can now provide new formulations for:
•Glass cleaners, window cleaners, mirror cleaners
•General purpose cleaners, bathroom cleaners, disinfectants
•Tile cleaners, hard floor cleaners,
•Carpet cleaners, stain removers
•Hand soap, paper products
•Aerosols, air fresheners
As you are shopping for safe products, a good place to start is with the green seal. Green Seal Certification has been established to recommend products that are both effective and safe. Green Seal Inc. is an independent, non-profit organization based in Washington. They are committed to using and developing science-based standards to insure safe and effective products and services.
Even politicians are waking up to the problem. Because indoor air quality has come to the forefront, many State Legislatures have enacted Green School Acts to promote health for children and teachers at schools. Janitorial services are providing a valuable benefit by using safe cleaning products.
Many people are also seeing the need to provide safe work environments for employees. In addition to air quality, residues have become a problem. Unless a building has good air exchange, residue chemicals build up on all horizontal surfaces and the workplace becomes unhealthy. It is probably a good idea to have a commercial carpet cleaning firm wash out the residues that have settled on the carpet for years.
Businesses and homeowners are often hard-worked and time-pressed. There is no time for cleaning. Fortunately, there are commercial cleaning services that specialize in “green cleaning.” They specialize in improving indoor safety for you, your kids, pets, and employees.
Times change and we have to decide if we want green cleaning. It seems like a lot of change, but the alternative is to go back to the dangerous and unhealthy chemicals of the past. What we truly want now is cleaning that helps us without hurting the environment.
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