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SUSTAINABLE CLEANING
THE RISE OF ECO-CLEANING
Richard Crawford, owner of independent family firm The Ovencleaners, has noticed a growing trend in ‘eco-friendly’ cleaning goods during his 11 years in the cleaning industry. Here, he shares his views on this ever-growing movement.
Over recent years, there has been a significant rise in the amount of people who are buying and using ‘eco-friendly’ goods. Between the years of 2007 and 2011, the sales of eco-cleaners soared from $303m (around £220m) to $640m (approx £460m), and the trend doesn’t appear to be abating.
This increased interest is likely due to our heightened awareness of, and concern for, the environment. When you consider the sheer amount of cleaning products we use every day, seeking a cleaner, greener alternative seems to be the least we could do to benefit the world around us. Some people are even going that one step further, and making their own cleaning products at home, thereby ensuring that they are entirely safe, environmentally friendly and 100% natural.
Of course, eco-friendly cleaning isn’t entirely altruistic. Going green has many personal benefits, and forsaking the toxic chemicals found in everyday cleaning products can do wonders for your health, not to mention the health of your family and pets. According to one source, ‘household cleaning products are ranked within the top five causes of childhood poisoning’. In the spirit of ‘better safe than sorry’, many families have chosen a safer, more natural style of cleaning.
Though eco-friendly cleaning is certainly on the rise, as a sector of the cleaning economy it is still relatively new. So new, in fact, that even defining
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what it is can become a hot topic for debate. As a general rule, eco-friendly cleaning refers to cleaning that avoids harmful chemicals. The term ‘chemical free’ is often bandied about, although critics are quick to point out that no cleaning product in existence is, in fact, chemical free. This is down to the fact that, from a scientific viewpoint, everything is a chemical. For this reason, even if the only ingredients in your cleaning product are salt and water it is not a chemical-free solution.
There are certain challenges that face the world of eco-friendly cleaning. Unlike the Fair Trade label, which has a regulatory body, the term ‘eco-friendly cleaning’ can be used by anybody. This is a deeply concerning issue for many, as without a clear definition and set distinctions, less scrupulous cleaning businesses may use this ambiguity to their advantage.
In the past, certain products with dangerous chemicals have deliberately been labelled as ‘eco-friendly’, knowing that certain customers are willing to pay more money for the knowledge that they are doing their bit for the environment. One of these products, known as a ‘Simple Green Concentrated All-Purpose Cleaner’, contained a solvent that may cause eye irritation and red blood cell damage. Despite this, it was clearly labelled as biodegradable and non-toxic.
Though certain organisations might fight until the bitter end to defend their stance as eco-friendly
companies, certain measures are currently being put in place to ensure that consumers have all the pertinent information before they make their purchase. In the US, a bill is currently in the making that would require companies to fully disclose all of the chemicals in their products.
One of the main challenges for the eco-friendly movement is that savvy entrepreneurs have discovered that it is, in fact, quite lucrative. The private and public sectors are investing more and more money into eco-friendly cleaning services. This means that those companies who are genuinely setting out to provide clean, green products are in direct competition with big corporations who are bending the definition of what eco- friendly really means. For this sector to fully flourish, eco-friendly cleaning needs to become more transparent, more regulated, and shoppers need to keep an eye out for questionable substances on the ingredients label of their cleaning products.
www.nottinghamovencleaners.co.uk Tomorrow’s Cleaning March 2016 | 41
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