More businesses are doing their part for sustainable and eco-friendly practices. Not only are these helpful for the environment, but it’s a great way to boost their brand image, lower operating costs, and reduce their carbon footprint. When it comes to cleaner spaces, many businesses are turning away from typical cleaning methods and opting for a new trend in sanitation: green cleaning.
Rather than using artificial chemicals and substances, more businesses are finding sustainable and effective green cleaning services to achieve clean and healthy spaces. Here’s why an increasing number of companies are turning to green cleaning options and the benefits you can expect from making the switch.
What Is Green Cleaning?
The practice of green cleaning involves the use of exclusively natural substances to clean your spaces. Typical commercial cleaning products often contain manufactured substances and chemicals that can be harmful for the environment. While your spaces may be clean, the residue from these products can make its way to sewers and landfills and can be harmful to plants, animals, and the environment.
Green cleaning products, on the other hand, can effectively clean your property while posing little to no danger to the environment when disposed of. Some of the typical characteristics of green cleaning products include:
- The products are made with organic materials and substances already found in nature.
- There are no phosphates or chlorine in the product.
- There are no artificial fragrances or colorings.
- They’re either biodegradable, reusable, or recyclable packaging materials.
In short, green cleaning provides all the benefits of cleaning services but without the toxic chemicals harmful for the environment.
Identifying Green Products
Choosing the right cleaning products is essential for any business aiming to uphold eco-friendly standards. Since not all products labeled “green” meet the same environmental and safety criteria, knowing how to identify certified green products can help business owners make more responsible choices for your facility and the planet.
Look for trusted third-party certifications like the following to ensure products are genuinely eco-friendly:
- Green Seal: This prestigious certification is awarded to products that meet rigorous standards for environmental and health standards throughout their lifecycle.
- EPA Safer Choice: The Safer Choice label, which originated from the EPA’s Design for the Environment program, verifies that a product’s ingredients have been evaluated for safety and environmental impact, focusing on safer chemical ingredients.
- ECOLOGO: Products that achieve the ECOLOGO mark have met rigorous third-party standards set by UL Solutions, which confirm reduced environmental harm compared to conventional products.
- Certified Biobased: This USDA certification verifies products derived from renewable biological sources, supporting the use of non-petroleum-based ingredients.
Besides looking for these certifications, it’s best to read labels carefully. Look for descriptors like “certified organic,” “low VOC,” or “cruelty-free.” Products labeled low VOC (volatile organic compounds) release fewer pollutants, promoting safer indoor air quality, while cruelty-free products have not been tested on animals.
Be Cautious of Greenwashing
While many products claim to be eco-friendly, not all live up to these promises. As you’ll learn in more detail later, greenwashing, or when companies use vague terms like “natural” or “eco-friendly” without evidence, can be misleading. For authenticity, stick with trusted certifications that use science-based criteria, like those mentioned earlier.
Transitioning to Green Cleaning
Adapting green cleaning goes beyond simply replacing the products you use. Instead, it’s about embedding effective, safe, eco-friendly practices into your cleaning routine.
Begin by evaluating the protocols your internal cleaning team is using to identify where hazardous chemicals can be swapped for green products and safer cleaning methods. Partnering with a green cleaning company also lets you work with a janitorial cleaning team that uses certified eco-friendly products and techniques that align with your sustainability goals.
Developing a Transition Plan
These fundamental steps can help you follow a structured plan to make the shift smooth and effective:
- Phase Out Harmful Products: Gradually replace hazardous chemicals with certified green products in all cleaning tasks.
- Train Staff on New Cleaning Techniques: Train your team on proper dwell time and other application techniques for new products to maximize their efficacy.
- Use Appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Ensure cleaners have essential PPE, such as gloves for irritant protection, masks or shields to reduce inhalation risks, and slip-resistant footwear for safety.
Involve Facility Managers
Facility managers are essential to your business’s green cleaning transition, so it’s best to involve them from the start. This enables them to oversee detailed cleaning tasks efficiently and ensure new practices are correctly integrated into daily operations.
Don’t Forget To Monitor and Adjust
After implementing your new processes, regularly monitor the results to assess effectiveness. Adjusting your cleaning practices as necessary can help you continuously improve your program and maintain a safe, sustainable workplace.
6 Reasons to Use Green Cleaning Products
Some notable benefits of making the switch to green cleaning:
- Clean and Green Spaces: Green cleaning products offer the same level of quality – if not better – as everyday cleaning products. By making the switch you won’t be sacrificing workplace cleanliness, but you will still be taking steps towards environmentally sustainable practices.
- No Toxic Fumes: Many ordinary cleaning products should not be mixed or come into contact with other products as they can lead to toxic fumes. Some products also recommend ventilating a room after use to minimize fumes that can cause headaches, allergies, or asthma attacks.
- No Harmful Residue: Some people are allergic to chemical substances and may experience rashes or other skin conditions if they come into contact with cleaning residue.
- Eco-friendly Packaging: Products that are genuinely green come in packaging that’s either biodegradable, reusable, or recyclable.
- Lower Cleaning Costs: Green cleaning products are often multipurpose, so the number of supplies needed to clean different types of surfaces and spaces is greatly reduced.
- Boost Your Brand Image: Businesses that take steps towards more sustainable practices are likely to receive the support of sustainable consumers.
Green Cleaning vs. Greenwashing
Before you try switching your business’ cleaning supplies with green cleaning products or searching for green cleaning services, take care not to fall for tactics known as “greenwashing”. This is when certain products or services claim to be eco-friendly in an attempt to tap into consumers that are conscious about sustainability.
Given the increasing popularity of eco-friendly options, many products claim to be non-toxic and good for the environment – even if they aren’t totally. There aren’t any regulations on cleaning products and services using words like “eco-friendly” and “natural”, so products can use these words vaguely even if they wouldn’t necessarily be totally eco-friendly in the way most people use the word. Some examples to watch out for:
- Products that have labels like “20% more eco-friendly” give very vague promises or statistics about how sustainable a product is.
- Products that claim to be eco-friendly but have no certification from organizations like Green Seal, Safer Choice, or Ecologo.
- Companies that claim to have sustainable and eco-friendly products, but their operations are the cause of pollution.
To ensure you’re getting genuine green cleaning products and services, you should either read the labels carefully to ensure products are totally green. For services, ensure your provider has certification and can carefully provide you with their steps to prove eco-friendly practices.
Achieve Clean and Green Spaces with JAN-PRO Cleaning & Disinfecting
When you partner with JAN-PRO Cleaning & Disinfecting, you have a team equipped with certified eco-friendly cleaning tools and supplies to create spotless spaces. Green cleaning services are done with a suite of quality cleaning products that meet the green certification requirements of the industry to ensure sustainable practices.
Contact JAN-PRO Cleaning & Disinfecting today to get an estimate on green cleaning services.