Cleaning Talk - Professional Cleaning and Restoration Forum banner

Do you clean green?

  • We are 100% green.

    Votes: 2 15.4%
  • We offer green cleaning as an option.

    Votes: 3 23.1%
  • We don't clean green.

    Votes: 4 30.8%
  • What is 'Green Cleaning'? Is that money laundering?

    Votes: 4 30.8%

Who does green cleaning?

8K views 34 replies 14 participants last post by  Joel Daniel 
#1 ·
Green cleaning is the new buzzword and probably a good idea.

So, who cleans green?
What are the pros and cons?
Do you charge extra for green cleaning?
 
#3 ·
I'm really interested in this topic.

From the reading that I have done the products seem to be a little more expensive and labor-intensive.

Should we all be 100% green?
That would be great, especially if the 'experts' could decide what 'green' is.

Should we charge the same price for a more expensive service, and can we stay if business if we do?
I honestly don't know.
 
#4 ·
Should we charge the same price for a more expensive service, and can we stay if business if we do?
I honestly don't know.
I'm not saying that you shouldn't charge more for your services if your using higher priced materials and longer processes but you have to point that out in your sales pitch.

I'm probably wrong on this but it just seems to be a strange thing to upsell. Kind of like saying you will work safer if they pay extra. Does that make sense?
 
#6 ·
The problem with offering "green cleaning" in the real world is your material cost and your labor goes up. Like Nathan mentioned, you would have to raise your prices. You have to look at it from an angle of end results. If you can be EPA compliant (no washwater down drains) what advantage is the customer getting? He paid more for a wash and got the same results he could have gotten elsewhere. No matter how eco-friendly a detergent is, it still cannot go down into public drainage.
 
#7 ·
Another interesting article

http://www.cmmonline.com/article.asp?IndexID=6636259

A few exerpts:

A definition of green cleaning
Green Seal is currently completing an environmental standard for cleaning services, and this standard will provide in detail the many aspects involved in green cleaning, including the use of chemicals, supplies, equipment, pro-cedures, training and communications.
By green cleaning, we mean the use of products and procedures that are more healthful and have less environmental impact than others that serve the same function.


--


In many cases, these environmental and health-related procedures are synonymous with industry best practices.
We know of some major and small cleaning services that are pioneering in best practices, but the industry as a whole has a distance to go.
 
#23 ·
The standards as they stand right now, for a cleaning chemical to be considered green it has to fit the following criteria

  • * Made of readily bio-degradable components
    * Low or No toxicity to humans &/or Aquatic life
    * No Carcinogens, sensitizers, teratogens or mutagens (agents that are capable of causing developmental abnormalities in utero or capable of changing genetic materials)
    * No Endocrine disrupters
    * No phosphates, chlorine bleach or harsh solvents
    * Low VOC (volatile organic compounds)
    * Made of renewable ingredients and in Concentrated Formulas to reduce wasted packaging and fuel

 
#16 ·
The part "products and procedures that are more healthful and have less environmental impact" is interesting. One could read "more healthful" as "less toxic but still potentially dangerous to one's health". You could also read "less enviromental impact" as "it still harms the enviroment but not as much as some procedures".

The organic food industry is going through the same issues right now. It will be fun to see where it all shakes out.


 
#17 ·
The part "products and procedures that are more healthful and have less environmental impact" is interesting. One could read "more healthful" as "less toxic but still potentially dangerous to one's health". You could also read "less enviromental impact" as "it still harms the enviroment but not as much as some procedures".

The organic food industry is going through the same issues right now. It will be fun to see where it all shakes out.
This has been discussed on the grout cleaning board I frequent as well.

These chemicals are still harmful but not "AS" harmful.

Also the fact that the chems we use, we use them because they generally work better than anything else. Many supposedly green chems put their effectiveness second.

just a thought
 
#18 ·
Like any other industry,cleaning and selaing will evolve. I'm sure all gear heads though increased economy and emissions laws would effectively kill any chance of ever owning a fast car again. They were right for awhile until manufacturer's were forced into developing technologies to the point where my 6 cylinder Altima will walk most factory muscle cars of the 60's.
 
#20 ·
I feel it is just another way to get into my pockets. They always want to change things. Change chems, procedures, equipment, It all adds up to money in there pockets. Then of course you will need to be trained have to pay for that. It is kind of like new cars they come out with new models because you don't want to drive the old model do ya?
I want to use chems that are less harmful to us all and I am top on the list of people I want to keep safe. But I just think it is just same old game never keep it the same so THEY can sell us the latest products and so on.

PS who are THEY anyway?
 
#21 ·
We offer it to customers who touch on health issues or have expressed issues with allergies, etc. We never hear anyone ask about green cleaning, per se.

Adding to the questions above - if "green cleaning" is "THE RIGHT WAY" why are other products still being produced? If there are products which truly are provably "healthier/ greener"...why are the manufacturers not concerned about law suits for the "bad" stuff...???
 
#22 ·
We only do "green cleaning". It's not an option. We do commercial offices only. If you are cleaning for a living you are exposing yourself to unnecesary risks. There are safer products than the traditional ones that we used for years. It took some research but we have found good products and have had good sucess with them. Our employees love them and our customers appreciate what we are doing. Also we not putting unnecesary toxins into the environment.
You have to look at the big picture. If you don't do it now then when?
More and more companys and state and local governments are mandating green cleaning. You need to get on board now or miss the boat. If I can offer any help or advise I would be more than happy to.

Joey D.
:)
 
#24 ·
Which Is It? Market Reality Or Health Issue? How Do You Know?

My take:

In the end, we are asked to "believe" the so-called stakeholders (manufacturers and other organizations) who stand to directly benefit from going "green"....

We are asked to "believe" that "green" products are healthier than other products without really having the tools at our disposal to know the facts. We are asked to "believe" these things by those who CONTINUE to produce and sell "unhealthy" products, so the real question is...why should we "believe" them?

The efforts of the "Green Machine" have been focused largely on getting government to mandate their products while at the same time continuing to produce and sell obsolete and comparatively "dangerous" products.

Their strategy is for government to FORCE EVERYONE to buy in - when logic should dictate that if the products are as they claim - the old products should be OUTLAWED, following their own strategic reasoning. But NOOOooooo....they really want it BOTH WAYS! And the reason for doing so is crystal clear. Prices for "green" products are still high, and they want to milk the process.

All other things being equal, a provably (keyword!) healthier, environmentally friendly/ safer product should be the only product available. Why should good health and environment be accessible only for those with a bigger budget?
 
#25 ·
I can understand the skepticism. It's a good thing. That's why I started to do research on this about 2 years ago. Nobody should blindly follow what anybody says. Common sense is paramount. We started with researching the base chemicals in our products and compared them with the chemicals in the newer "Green products". The information can be overwelming. There are hundreds if not thousands of sources on the web. Everything from health issues,the effect on the environment,how the chemicals are manufactured what the manufacturers claims about their products are. Then we compared them to scientific studies from all over the world including government,health organizations,independent research groups etc. Again common sense is paramount. We believe there are ligitimate concerns and better alternatives.
The alternatives also needed to be researched because not all products that claim to be "Green" are. We found that Green Seals standards are a good bechmark.
Again skepticisim is a good thing....

Joey D.
 
#26 ·
Nathan - interesting that you mention "green cleaning" as an "up-sell"....but that's exactly what the manufacturers are doing ! So-called "green" products are more costly, at least up front - and touted as being the latest & greatest...etc...

But I really think as you do - that if there's TRULY only one right, safe, healthy product - it should be the standard. So why do THEY want it both ways?
 
#28 ·
We use H2ORANGE2 from Envirox. It's EPA registered 5 minute sanitizer. At the dilution for sanitizer it works out to about .79 per quart. At the dilution for general purpose cleaner it works out to about .08 per quart. It's also Green Seal certified.

Joey D.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top