Cleaning For Health
Our Clean Green Program
Cleaning Facility Services is committed to developing and maintaining an environment that enhances human health and fosters a transition toward sustainability. The Cleaning Facility Services ‘Clean Green’ program is a commercial cleaning program that is designed to increase the health and quality of the buildings we service for the benefit of our employees, tenants and the environment.
Our goal is to provide cleaning services with the health, safety and welfare of our building occupants, front-line workers and the environment in mind. By focusing on cleaning for ‘health’, we fulfill our objective of providing a working environment with a daily scheduled cleaning program for critical high-touch point areas that is vital to control the spread of infectious germs to other surfaces and others.
Ensuring a healthy environment has never been more important. With recent public health threats, such as H1N1, MRSA, Norovirus, Avian Flu, SARS and others, facility managers have an increasing responsibility to ensure that they are doing everything to defend against a possible outbreak. This is where cleaning plays a crucial, albeit, all-too- often underrated role.
By focusing on the concept of cleaning for health and adopting a cleaning program based on such a concept, facility managers can demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and validate their role as an innovative environmental steward. Once the concept of green cleaning is understood, it is possible to take the next step and begin to consider how to implement an effective program and have your facility ‘Clean Green’.
What is Green Cleaning?
The first question that most ask when considering the adoption and implementation of a green cleaning program is “What exactly does green cleaning mean?” The most accepted definition of green cleaning is ‘cleaning to protect health without harming the environment’.
At its out-set, green cleaning essentially involved the use of environmentally preferable chemicals. Although an acceptable initial approach, in no way did green cleaning stop there. Rather, the concept has gone through a number of developments to incorporate environmentally preferable tools, equipment and paper goods. Further, green cleaning practices have started to incorporate not only the environmental preferability of specific products and how, when and where they are procured and used, but also to focus on the health and safety of both cleaning personnel and building occupants.
What Is Sustainability?
Any attempt to define green cleaning must first begin with an understanding of what is meant by “sustainability”. After all, green cleaning is an integral element of sustainability. Although the terms sustainability, green and environmental are used interchangeably, the most widely cited and accepted definition for sustainability comes from the frequently referenced Brundtland Report (1987): “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
The triple bottom line (3BL or TBL), of environmental, social and economic considerations, often simply referred to as “people, planet, profit,” provides a framework and expanded scale of values and criteria for measuring an organization’s success
Sustainable Benefits of the Green Cleaning Program
PEOPLE (Social)
- Increased workplace safety
- Increased opportunity for training
- Increased morale of frontline workers
PLANET (Environmental)
- Improved indoor air quality
- Reduced environmental impact from chemical use
PROFIT (Economic)
- Reduction in funds spent to purchase cleaning products
- Reduction in lost labor hours from accidents and sick leave
- Improved productivity of building inhabitants and visitors
Why Green Cleaning Makes ‘Cents’ For Sustainable Facilities?
In its green, or sustainable, infancy, the commercial cleaning industry sought opportunities to be able to clean effectively while protecting those who perform those services. Given the human performance component of cleaning, this is natural. Today, green cleaning has grown to be a very sophisticated practice, both from a tooling, chemical, equipment and performance process and a human engagement perspective.
Organizations cannot focus solely on profits, but must also consider the impact of their activities and operations on people and the environment. A sustainable business, organization or industry depends on a balance between profit, people and the planet. As previously mentioned, green cleaning is tied closely to the concept of sustainability and the triple bottom line.
What makes our process Green?
Cleaning Facility Services has partnered with Avmor Canada's leading provider of professional cleaning products and solutions and one of our valued service and training partners. Avmor’s best practices encompasses a commitment to health and safety by insuring responsible cleaning solution, proper training an education for safe handling of products that contain less harmful chemicals or a healthy and clean facility. All Avmor products are manufactured in an ISO14001 facility using cGMP manufacturing procedures. Avmor provide over 50 UL EcoLogo certified products. All products used by Cleaning Facility Services are certified Green by UL Ecologo.
How we differ from traditional cleaning methods
Avmor products are effective in cold water. They are concentrated formulations that can be effectively diluted using a dilution control system. Avmor’s dispensers guarantee accurate dilutions with minimal contact to the concentrate.
In addition, Avmor’s EP50 Cleaner Disinfectant product will provide your facility with the ability to complete 95% of your general cleaning needs with the use of one chemical. This simplifies training and chemical management. EP50 is UL EcoLogo and DIN approved.
CFS can help facility managers mitigate risks of their employees and clients, reduce environmental impacts, and improve performance of their cleaning operations with support from Avmor, Cleaning Facility Services will supply your facility with a complete training manual and wall charts that include:
- Safety Information
- Application Information using text and pictograms
- Green Building Audits
- Professional workplace labels
- Access to a library of training video