This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
SUSTAINABLE CLEANING


JOIN HANDS WITH SUSTAINABILITY


Stephen Ashkin, President of the Ashkin Group and leading advocate for promoting sustainability in the cleaning industry, sets the record straight on what ‘green cleaning’ is all about.


There is considerable confusion among cleaning professionals as to what green cleaning, ‘sustainable’ green cleaning, and sustainability are all about. So let’s start out with a situation that might help us address at least two of these quandaries.


You are a contract cleaning company and have been invited to submit a cleaning proposal for a very large organisation. Based on their Request for Proposal (RFP), which is sometimes called a ‘tender’, they request the following as far as carpet cleaning:


The contract cleaner will clean carpet throughout the building three times per year using a hot water carpet extractor with the following exceptions:


• Executive offices are to be cleaned four times per year using a hot water extractor.


• Executive conference and meeting rooms are to be cleaned four times per year, using a hot water extractor.


• Warehouse offices are to be cleaned two times per year using a cold water extractor.


Now, let’s examine what this means as to green cleaning as well as sustainable green cleaning. But first,


50 | Tomorrow’s Cleaning Ireland


we must realise many organisations tend to recycle their RFPs. By this I mean they take an RFP that may have been prepared as much as ten years ago and just put the current date on it. A lot has changed in cleaning in the past decade, and ten years ago green and sustainable cleaning issues were just starting to become a consideration.


With that in mind, let’s dissect this RFP, realising our discussion applies to most facilities.


• First, does all the carpet throughout the building need to be cleaned three times per year? A greener and more sustainable approach would be that carpet on the ground floor be cleaned three times per year, but carpet above the ground floor is cleaned twice per year or as needed. Most carpet soiling in a facility occurs on the ground floor and by keeping there clean, dirt and soil are less likely to be tracked to higher floors with foot traffic.


• As to cleaning carpet in the executive offices and meeting rooms four times annually, the reality is that these areas likely have the cleanest carpet in the entire building. They


are the least populated areas but are typically given special treatment just because they are used by top executives. Instead of carpet being cleaned four times per year, twice per year in most cases will be plenty.


• Why are warehouse offices to be cleaned only twice per year, and using a cold water extractor? Instead of minimising the importance of these areas, they are likely the most soiled carpets in the building. By cleaning carpet in warehouse and industrial offices more frequently, there is less chance that soiling from these areas will be walked in to other areas of the building. Additionally, the use of a cold water carpet extractor here also suggests that the cleaning needs of these areas have been marginalised. But more about that next.


• The call for hot water extractors is an indication that this may be a ‘recycled’ RFP. About ten years ago, it was believed that carpet was more thoroughly cleaned using hot water. However, since then, a number of manufacturers are now making detergents and cleaning solutions that work as well, if not better, using cold water.


twitter.com/TomoCleaning


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96