Your road map to a safer, healthier, Greener, and cleaner environment.
• Reduce Health Effects Lowering Absenteeism and Respiratory Issues
• Increase Safety
• Reduce Environmental Impacts
• Reduce Costs and Raise Worker Production
• Increase Occupant and Worker Satisfaction
Step 1: Get On Board
Everyone must agree on how green they want to become. This process is a journey. The building owner, building manager, occupants, and cleaning staff must all agree on the path to be taken. A written plan stating the objectives and an action plan is necessary in fist getting started.
Step 2: Choose the Right Team Members
The team should consist of those persons responsible for the management of the facility, building occupants, and the cleaning staff.
Step 3: Conduct a Site Survey
Examine current cleaning tasks as they relate to specific areas of the building. Review the types of chemicals, cleaning tools, paper and plastic products, and machinery used. The safety and security of the occupants should also be considered. Examine current recycling practices, pest management practices, and air quality standards.
Step 4: Develop a Written Plan
Prioritize a list of items to do. Consider the following:
Low environmental cleaning policies
Isolation of chemical concentrates and use of mixing stations
Low environmental impact janitorial disposable products policy
Treatment of entryways
Recycling policy
A listing of people with special needs
Step 5: Encourage Ownership
Each person in the facility must take ownership of the plan to ensure the plans success.
All participants must get on the same page in order to keep the process ongoing.
Step 6: Choose Green Products
Chemicals
GS-34 Degreaser
GS-37 Bathroom Cleaners, Glass Cleaner, General Purpose, Carpet Care
GS-40 Floor Finish and Stripper
GS-41 Hand Soap
Paper Products
GS-01 Tissue Paper Bathroom and Facial (20-60% post consumer waste for toilet tissue) (10-15% post consumer waste for facial tissue)
GS-09 Paper Towels and Napkins (40-60% post consumer waste for towels) (30-60% post consumer waste for napkins)
No bleach in the processing of the paper products.
No solvents in the de-inking process.
Plastic Trash Liners
EPA Guideline 10% - 100% post consumer waste
Machinery: “Green Label Machinery” Upright Vacuums, Canister Vacuums, Back Pack Vacuums, Large Area Vacuums, and Extractors
Machines tested to meet the Carpet and Rug Institute standard for certification.
Step 7: Implement Green Cleaning Procedures
Green cleaning procedures used in dusting, dust mopping, trashing, vacuuming, hard floor care, carpet care, and washroom care will improve the health and safety of individuals working in their facilities.
Step 8: Train On Green Cleaning
Establish a training calendar to train individuals on the chemicals, machinery, tools, and procedures used in green cleaning. Plan for follow up sessions to insure understanding of the procedures once the initial training is performed. All new employees should be identified and scheduled immediately for training.
Step 9: Share The Responsibility
All persons utilizing facilities must work in harmony and share in the responsibility for maintaining a cleaner healthier and safer environment. Occupants share the responsibility by the care and management of their plants as well as the storage and eating of food in the workplace.
Step 10: Offer Education, Communication, and Feedback
The building owner, building manager, building occupants, and the cleaning staff must commit to their involvement in the program. The communication of major events, floor stripping and scrubbing times, carpet extraction times, and pesticide application is also necessary.
Participating Third Parties
*** Green Seal is a non profit organization founded in 1989 providing certification standards in order to purchase environmentally responsible products and services.
*** CRI (Carpet and Rug Institute) is a non profit organization establishing a “Green Label Testing Program” for general purpose vacuums and carpet extractors to be use on all conventional carpet styles. To qualify equipment must pass specific tests nfor soil removal, dust containment, and carpet appearance retention.
*** USGBC is the United States Green Building Council certifying building utilizing the LEED Program (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). The USBG is a non profit organization responsible for the certification of new and existing buildings. You can earn from 14-16 points in the custodial area of the 342 points required for basic Leed certification
Certified Level 32-39 points
Silver Level 40-47 points
Gold Level 48-63 points
Platinum Level 64-82 points
*** Environmental Choice is a Canadian certification program established in 1988 that helps consumers identify products and services that are less harmful to the environment.
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