Can you give us a quick overview of your Green Cleaning Program? When did you get started and what have you accomplished so far?

We’ve been transitioning to green since 1997, when we changed from an oil based gym floor finish to a water based gym floor finish. And we have been using water based ever since that time

We began using automatic scrubbers in all of our schools since 2002- that allows for safer conditions in schools, because in addition to productivity increases, it increased the levels of safety for our workers using the scrubbers rather than a mop and a bucket. They use only clean water, are no longer using dirty water from a bucket and putting that dirty water back onto the floor. They are battery operated as well – which is a savings somewhat to our electricity bill.

What are you doing currently about Green Cleaning?

We went to the use of high speed burnishers – which we have an initiative this year to purchase enough to finish off – we hope to have them in all of our schools this year. We just did an evaluation of a new product that we are about to issue a purchase order on shortly, and they are also battery-operated – again, that is a safety measure for our workers as well as there is no cord to be tripped over. And you really don’t need to use a spray buffing product that releases a chemical into the air and then onto the floor – normally, people use spray buff products with buffers and those can cause a product to be evaporated into the air – its just another chemical that we don’t need to use with the burnishers.

The burnishers also come equipped with skirts and vacuums, so that when they are burnishing the furnishes on the floors, it eliminates the dust that can get in the air because that dust is immediately vacuumed up into the machine and the skirts around the edges of that piece of equipment so it doesn’t release dust back into the air.

And again – it also increases our productivity because it actually reduces the frequency that the floors need to be rebuffed. That too is obviously again is not only a savings in productivity but it reduces any impact of that process on the occupants.

And, we went to a back-pack vacuum, and the back pack vacuum cleaners are used on certain floors so that even in the classroom that we are instead of relocating dust, we are eliminating the dust from the atmosphere by vacuuming it up out of the environment.

We continually evaluate those back-pack vacuums and look at those pieces of equipment that are certified, we are looking for very lightweight equipment to reduce the impact on our employees and we are looking for low-noise equipment as well to reduce that impact on the employee or other people in the environment while we are doing the process. And the equipment we use has a four-stage filtration system so we are eliminating and removing that dust and not reintroducing it into the environment.

Our back pack vacuums are also helpful in helping to improve the longevity of the air filters. Again, instead of relocating dust and dirt into the air, and being sucked back into our air filters, it’s actually being removed out of the environment.

In 2006 we went to a Green Seal Certified chemicals and purchasing the product we are now using allowed us to eliminate five different chemicals from our process, because as a multipurpose, disinfectant cleaner, and we didn’t have to have a separate products for a variety of other things, it reduced (what we had to purchase) – we didn’t have to (buy) a glass cleaner and some of our other types of cleaners were eliminated – carpet cleaner, all of these different kinds of things. It really brought simplicity into our training and into the understanding of our system, by using just the one product.

And it comes in a recyclable packaging, it’s a concentrate and has a dispensing system as part of its packaging and so and were able to ensure that it is used properly and it prevents waste of the product. That was probably the biggest thing that we did accomplish.

Did you have any challenges recently you would like to share?

Recently, there has been a need to add a new product due to the MRSA situation, with the public opinion and the attention that has come to bear. One of our biggest challenges right now is dealing with the public opinion when one of these cases, like the MRSA can come to bear or come to the public’s attention – that there is pressure for us to use some “stronger” products.

And it is always one of our challenges to be able to assure our customers and public opinion – we’re talking about little children – that we are very concerned about bacteria and germs and things of that nature, particularly because we are coming upon the flu season.

Where are you going in the future with the program?

We certainly would like to find a product that removes wax from surfaces that is not as strong as the product we are currently using. So we are continually looking at strippers and floor finishes and waxes – and those are the types of products that we use a lot of, but again, if you use the right kinds of equipment, like burnishers, and maintain floors on a regular basis, you don’t have to, you can limit, the frequency in which you have to strip and wax floors. And so we try to not re-strip and re-wax an entire building every year, but hopefully every three years if we maintain the floors properly.

But as the industry grows, we will certainly entertain the new products that come on the market - to test those products for effectiveness. We have a very high expectation community in Montgomery County Maryland, and it is our desire to meet their quality expectations while being able to meet the healthy, high-performance green cleaning expectations that we have as well – that also is a challenge to juggle both of those things.

Any to those starting or thinking about starting a Green Cleaning Program?

You have to include your safety and environmental health people in your organization as you are evaluating your products. Look at Green Seal Certified products, and even though they are certified by Green Seal, to do some application and effectiveness training and have some testings. I would certainly advise that you have a good testing protocol for evaluating your processes as well as your products. Green cleaning is not just about the products, but about how we apply products.

I would advise folks to have very good evaluation or accountability process, because when you have a system as big as ours, with as many employees as we have at all of our schools, you certainly are going to have varying levels of attention to green cleaning principles and we would advise all to have a good inspection process and accountability process where you are going through your system from time to time. Look in the closets, see what exactly is in the closets and find out what is exactly going on. People will bring in things from home and if you are not looking in the closets, you won’t know that is going on. Folks will bring in insect repellants and other things we prohibit. Not just the building services staff, but teachers and other people will bring in other things.

It behooves us to not only educate the building services staff, but educate the administrators and instructional staff of the importance of not bringing in products that are prohibited, and that we’re protecting our environment, but the health of our students and staff.

 

back