42 | KEEP IT GREEN
GREEN CLEANING
www.ie-today.co.uk
Keep it clean, keep it green
Sustainable and green cleaning contractors can do more than simply provide a healthy school environment. They can also help with the provision of environmental education, says Carl Robinson
W
e see our schools,
colleges and universities as nurturing environments from the
very moment children enter a school until they graduate. For this reason, educational institutions should be at the forefront of eff ective, effi cient and sustainable cleaning practices. There’s no doubt that teaching and learning tops the agenda, but the cleanliness of the institutions has a huge bearing on its success. Cleaning specialist Nviro believes that sustainable and green cleaning techniques can not only benefi t the buildings themselves, but the students and their education. The issues of using chemicals in schools are discussed daily across the world. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, children miss more than 14 million school days each year due to asthma exacerbated by poor indoor air quality. As well as addressing sustainability and environmental issues, adopting greener techniques can not only have a positive eff ect on the health of students, it can also go towards helping them to understand the benefi ts of an environmentally friendly approach. In recent years there’s been a push in schools for children to understand how we use energy, water and approaches to healthy living. The idea behind such campaigns is to push children to become green pioneers, gaining an understanding of how to create a green and sustainable future which will help generations to come.
ABOVE: Nviro client Mid Kent college. TOP: sustainable cleaning can have spectacular results
Just like any cleaning contract, the relationship between the contractor and client has an extremely important part to play in the success of the work being carried out. Both parties need to be constantly engaged in an open dialogue so that they are on the same page when it comes to sorting out issues and keeping effi ciency rates high. When it comes to education, this relationship can also take on new levels and further engage the cleaning contractor. Nviro believes that environmental cleaning has the power to dovetail with environmental learning, and with a healthy contract relationship established, cleaning contractors could help towards teaching students about the benefi ts of going green. As cleaning professionals, trained in both the use of chemicals and sustainable cleaning, contractors hold a wealth of information and knowledge that could be fed into the teaching regimes. The students will benefi t from fi rst-hand expertise and will be able to see real-time results around the building they learn in. From how to manage water supplies and recycling to energy effi ciency and carbon footprints, a school’s cleaning
contractor could set an example of a sustainable approach. Green and sustainable cleaning regimes are not easy to introduce and establish, both in and outside of the education sector. With infection control a high priority, green regimes have got to sustain unrivalled levels of hygiene to make sure students are safe and healthy. Of course, sustainable doesn’t always mean green, and in some cases chemicals are the only answer for a cleaning regime. However, there are ways to make these more sustainable, such as dosing techniques and education in how to use them effi ciently and eff ectively. The important thing is to get students in schools to understand this so that they can take the knowledge outside of the education environment and into their homes and later lives. We know sustainable cleaning has the power to benefi t schools economically and socially, so why shouldn’t we look further into ways of directly impacting on the learning of the children through environmental education? iE
Carl Robinson is marketing manager for cleaning specialist Nviro. T: 0800 032 1334 E:
info@nviro.co.uk W:
www.nviro.co.uk
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