So, cost savings are one reason, but a much bigger one is right around the corner.


If cleaning contractors want to do business with major corporations and organisations, which already have sustainability programs in place, not only are they going to have to have their own sustainability plan in place, but they’re also going to have to be able to prove it. In this case, purchasers want to buy their products and cleaning services from companies that are also making the effort to be sustainable, and which can help them in their own sustainability activities.


“If cleaning contractors want to do business with major corporations, they going to have to have sustainability plans in place.”


For example, some major organisations are attaching a ‘sustainability purchasing tool’ to their requests for proposals. The purchasers then use this information to evaluate vendors, such as contract cleaners, as to the following:


• The steps they are taking to reduce fuel, energy, waste, and water consumption.


• The programs they have implemented to operate their own properties more efficiently and sustainably. Often this requires the use of an online ‘dashboard’ system to benchmark and then measure and monitor consumption and different metrics.


Today, a new definition of the word is evolving, and this has more to do specifically with how a cleaning business operates. That word is ‘efficiency’, which is the first step on the journey towards sustainability.


Efficiency addresses the need to reduce consumption and waste while still meeting the requirements of the company. Efficiency is also one of the first steps on the journey towards sustainability because it helps reduce the environmental impact of an organisation, which typically means it saves money.


This means that cleaning contractors should take steps to reduce the use of cleaning products and materials of all types; as well as energy, fuel, waste, and water. Steps like this also help us reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protecting the environment for generations to come.


So now that we have a better idea of what sustainability means today, and what a sustainable contract cleaning company would look like, what is driving cleaning contractors to become more sustainable?


At the top of the list are the cost savings we just mentioned. We have already witnessed this in our own industry: 20 US distributors adopted a variety of sustainability programs so that they could operate more efficiently. At the end of one year, collectively they had saved $400,000 in operating costs.


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• Any recycling programs in place. • The use of green cleaning products and procedures.


You might be asking, why would a major corporation be asking such things of their vendors? This can be answered by looking at what happened to a shoe manufacturer several years ago.


At that time, many of this company’s products were being manufactured by subcontractors overseas. It was uncovered that some of those subcontractors were hiring children; many factories did not provide access to toilets or drinking water; and some employees worked more than 60 hours per week, often under forced overtime conditions.


Initially, the company responded that this had nothing to do with the way their subcontractor operated their business. However, consumers around the world did not buy this explanation, and they used their pocketbooks to show it. Within a year of these stories surfacing, the shoe manufacturer saw their profits decline by almost 70%.


What large companies learned from this experience is that they and their vendors are all linked together. It is tough for a major organisation to practice sustainability if their vendors are not. What companies want today is everyone on the same sustainable team.


www.ashkingroup.com SUSTAINABLE CLEANING | 47


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