Stephen Ashkin knows green cleaning You’ve got questions? He’s got answers.
The principal of The Ashkin Group, LLC, Bloomington, IN, Ashkin’s mission is to help the cleaning industry understand and implement green cleaning programs in their facilities.
He drafted the cleaning credits for the Steering Committee of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Existing Buildings rating system.
Noted for his extensive work on the "green" purchasing issue, in which he helped drive the acceptance of a single standard within the cleaning industry, Ashkin also completed a contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on "Strategy Development and Implementation to Promote Purchase of Environmentally Preferable Cleaning Products in the Federal Government" and served on the EPA’s Healthy Schools Workshop.
Ashkin knows that there is confusion in the industry as to what real "green cleaning" is.
He is partnering with CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management magazine this month to answer questions that will help the industry make educated decisions on the best cleaning practices to implement.
Green cleaning isn’t a fad, and it’s not going away.
Q. What does green cleaning mean for, and to, the industry?
A. Green cleaning in its most simplified form is defined as "cleaning to protect health without harming the environment."
In many respects, green cleaning takes us back to our roots to remind us of our important public health mission, and perhaps for the first time help us recognize the enormous impact our industry has on the environment due to the use and consumption of cleaning products, janitorial paper, equipment and tools.
The process by which the green cleaning movement has gone about driving demand for green cleaning products and services will also have a very important financial impact. Specifically, building owners are being reminded of the critical role of cleaning.
Green cleaning is a platform by which green cleaning proponents are reminding/re-educating:
Schools on how cleaning can protect children's health and help them perform better on standardized tests
Healthcare facilities on how cleaning can protect patient health, reduce nosocomial infections and result in overall better health services
Office administrators, in both the public and private sector, on how cleaning can improve occupant health, performance and productivity
As a result, green cleaning has the potential to reduce the ongoing downward spiral of budgets, which have placed public health in jeopardy, to restored levels of spending.
Q. How can a maintenance manager convince upper building management to "go green?" What's the best way to demonstrate environmental needs?
A. Begin by looking for allies in the facility. If the facility has a health and safety committee, infection control committee, or some similar group, these are frequently good places to find them.
Begin to build a team that, through education, understands how cleaning can impact issues they are already sensitive to.
With some basis of support, you may now find it easier to explain to the head honchos how green cleaning can have a positive impact for them by, for example, showing them conclusive studies.
Q. How can a buyer avoid being "duped" into buying products that make untrue claims about chemical safeness, etc?
A. If a company is making health or environmental claims, ask it to substantiate the claims — which is what the Federal Trade Commission requires them to do by law. Even if the product is not Green Seal or otherwise certified, chemical manufacturers especially should be able to provide independent laboratory verification that they tested their products.
To ensure safety, request data concerning:
Eye irritation (preferably using non-animal tests)
Skin irritation (preferably using non-animal tests)
Skin sensitivity (preferably using non-animal tests)
For environmental claims, request test data for:
Biodegradation
Aquatic toxicity
Let the company know upfront you want specific independent laboratory test data.
Q. What would you say to a small firm or facility that thinks green cleaning is just a gimmick to get them to pay more? Or to someone who thinks it's a nice idea, but doesn't think he can afford it?
A. Prices for green products in all categories are becoming more and more competitive. Shop around until you find green products that can compete with traditional products on both performance and cost.
Be concerned about not only the initial cost of the product, but other potential savings from using green products. For example, there are real costs to a cleaning company or facility if one of his workers gets a burn from a highly acidic toilet bowl cleaner (i.e. pH 0.5) or highly alkaline floor stripping product (i.e. pH 13.5). These considerations need to be taken into account when identifying real costs.
Q. Is it necessary to begin an entire green cleaning program?
A. Necessary, no — preferable, yes. Even small changes to reduce health and environmental impacts are valuable.
Make it a complete program and make your best effort to do it right.
If you have the opportunity to develop a new cleaning program with a facility or client, start the cleaning program with a complete green offering with, for example, chemicals, paper, equipment, mats, tools, recycling materials, training, policies, etc.. But for existing cleaning programs, the idea is to build a plan with the building manager and phase in the changes according to the plan.
That way, you have everyone’s buy-in along with the correct expectations.
A good resource for developing such a strategy is the American Society for Testing and Material’s Standard Guide on Stewardship for Cleaning Commercial and Institutional Buildings (ASTM E-1971).
Q. Is it important that certain products be environmentally safe (such as glass cleaner and floor finish)?
A. There are two approaches to prioritizing which products to go after first: Conduct a complete facility inventory of all cleaning products, equipment, and procedures to develop a list of options; prioritize which to address first.
The changes that are easy and cost no money should be high priorities because there is a great return on investment and because having a few easy victories is helpful.
Other changes should be made based on the risk of harm to both worker and occupant health, or to the environment. Some of these changes are relatively easy, for example, replacing an ammoniated glass cleaner containing alcohol, 2-butoxyethanol and a nonyl phenol ethoxylate surfactant with a natural product.
Beyond chemicals, there are important opportunities that shouldn’t be overlooked and offer some of the best ROI relative to reducing exposures to health and the environment. These include:
Expanded use of entry matting systems
Micro-fiber cloths and flat mops
High-filtration vacuums
Floor buffers and burnishers with active vacuum attachments
Janitorial paper and trash bag liners with post-consumer recycled content
Integrated pest management strategies and products