Is the green age over?


If the trend is slowing down, then have we reached the dizzy heights of all being satisfied that we have made it through the ‘green revolution’ intact?


Matt Anderson, Cradle UK matt@cradleuk.com


There has been a real market shift in the past six months and not towards green, but away from it. Now that we have been spoon-fed green companies, green products, green cars and even green brands, has too much green turned off the consumer?


I think not. From what I see in the industry the word ‘green’ has just been replaced. Now the big companies are selling us the whole story, not just the fact that they use bio fuels, but where the fuels are made, and what impact this has on the people and places that make it. It’s a great story, we started at the tip of the iceberg, and now we begin to see the creature that lies beneath.


Some of the largest businesses in the world now refuse to use the word green at all, maybe


Drought ahead


West of the UK, including Scotland and most of Wales are at or close to capacity.


Andrew Large, Chief Executive of the CSSA


The UK is heading for a severe drought in the summer of 2012. According to the UK Environment Agency parts of the Midlands and South East of England will experience a drought that could be as bad as 1976. The Agency notes that Northamptonshire has had its driest 16 months since records began. The Centre for Hydrology and Ecology recently reported that UK rainfall over this winter was the lowest since 1972. The UK needs twice the average rainfall from now on to replenish South East reservoirs and restore rivers to average levels.


Conversely, the reservoir levels in the North


It looks very much as if the summer of 2012 will see hosepipe bans and other water restrictions in the Midlands, East and South East of the UK. For cleaning businesses, especially those that use running water, like window cleaning with water-fed poles and pressure washing, the consequences could be serious.


At the moment, the situation with regard to hosepipe bans and cleaning is uncertain. In 2007, the CSSA discussed with DEFRA what might happen in the event of a hosepipe ban, but the current scope of The Water Use (Temporary Bans) Order 2010 is not clear. The legislation seems to cover domestic premises, and would therefore affect domestic window cleaning businesses. However, the legislation gives Ministers the power to extend the scope by Order, and they may decide to include all commercial cleaning should a drought be sufficiently severe.


For cleaning businesses, this raises two issues. The first is that DEFRA seems to think that the solution is to return to “sponge and bucket”. Unfortunately this will put them on a direct collision course with the HSE, for whom all ladder work beyond low level and short duration is an anathema. Informal contacts in the past with HSE suggest that a Drought Order may not be a good enough reason to revert to long term ladder use. The other issue is the extent to which the health and safety exclusions in the 2010 Order can be used to continue justifying hosepipe based cleaning.


Cleaning businesses that may be affected by Drought Orders should be making preparations now, with their clients, to ensure that they can continue to provide a safe cleaning service during any period of water restriction. Likewise, the associations will work with DEFRA and HSE to ensure that the concerns of the cleaning industry are addressed.


www.cleaningindustry.org


The future of our cleaning industry | TOMORROW’S CLEANING | 23 REGULAR


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too last year, or maybe too vague. Three years ago, if something had green on it, then we would buy it, now the label is just the start, and before the product is even sold we are asking ourselves a multitude of questions in relation to packaging and the manufacturing processes.


We are finally beginning to understand that the word green is to some extent a ploy, a marketing spin if you like. Now, over the next few years, we will see the real thing in terms of products, accountability, life cycle and social awareness.


The green revolutions hasn’t gone away, it’s just evolved – like us!


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