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Facility Maintenance Greening Your Fitness Centre
Is it time to rethink your cleaning products and processes?
BY JENNIFER MEEK AND ROBERT KRAVITZ
I
t seems that everyone is talking about “green.” But the ways that various industries and facilities have adopted green and sustain- able practices—specifically, green
cleaning strategies—have certainly not been consistent. In Canada and many sections of the
U.S., schools, universities, hotels and office buildings have been fairly quick to adopt green cleaning programs. But healthcare locations and some fitness centres have moved a bit slower. Why? Both types of facilities focus
on preventing the spread of germs and bacteria that can harm human health. Often this calls for the use of power- ful cleaning chemicals, such as bleach and disinfectants, many of which are not considered green and are not “green certified.” Another common challenge for
these facilities is that many of them use a wide variety of cleaning chemi- cals, tools and equipment and are not sure how to move to a green cleaning program. In reality, the transition can be
much easier—and more successful— than anticipated, especially when clubs work with their custodial crews and follow some specific steps. Defining green cleaning “Green cleaning” is simply cleaning
that has a reduced impact on health and the environment. A green clean- ing program uses chemicals, tools, equipment and other products that have been certified as green or meet
38 Fitness Business Canada May/June 2013
“Green cleaning is simply cleaning that has a reduced impact on health and the environment.”
comparable green-certification cri- teria, indicating that these products are safer to use and help protect the environment. Green certification, in its simplest
terms, is achieved when a product is evaluated by an independent labora- tory and meet the standards of a repu- table green-certification organization.
These certification organizations in- clude Green Seal, UL Environment (formerly Canada’s EcoLogo program) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Design for the Environment program. Chemicals, which are only one com-
ponent of a green cleaning program, are not the only products eligible for
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