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| Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 each year to raise awareness of ways to live green, in hopes of saving the planet. What will you do for Earth Day? |
That's why in the latest 'linked in' group called 'CleanPro Cleaning Professionals' (seems so many these days - there's even one for a picnic!) I had to state my case on someone (Robert) asking: "Should You Put Your Money Where the Green Is?"
Karl Robinson: As long as you put the whole green philosophy to all aspects of your business. Otherwise it's a crock - & your clients know it.
Marla: Robert, while I appreciate the sentiment and agree with the premise, what standards are used ' to measure the natural resources their businesses use and the greenhouse gas emissions they generate'? Some standards are very controversial, some proven inaccurate and quite a few are political hot potatoes. These are issues that will have to be addressed to assure trust in the product over a broad spectrum of potential clients.
Karl, as for the 'whole green philosophy', many consumers (including cleaning businesses) are 'going green' in stages, continually investigating claims, issues and impact on a case by case basis while still using current products.
Karl, as for the 'whole green philosophy', many consumers (including cleaning businesses) are 'going green' in stages, continually investigating claims, issues and impact on a case by case basis while still using current products.
My business is a cleaning business so therefore if I want to stay in business, any product I use has to 1) clean and 2) be cost effective. Otherwise, I can rename myself as the Sierra Club and pray for donations. :-)
I think Robert's product has quite a lot of potential for assisting in the investigative framework I use in searching for a more green way of doing business.
Thank you, Robert. Please keep me informed on any updates and if you have deeper research available on your determination methods, I'd be very interested in reading it.
I think Robert's product has quite a lot of potential for assisting in the investigative framework I use in searching for a more green way of doing business.
Thank you, Robert. Please keep me informed on any updates and if you have deeper research available on your determination methods, I'd be very interested in reading it.
Karl Robinson: While I agree with the notion of environment care, on the whole it's just another ruse aimed at businesses & sections of industry to generate more money. We have had technology for a long time that could do away with the petrol engine &/or grid electrical supply to homes - even Tesla invented wifi back in the 1900's - + a whole stack of free energy designs that work, but Government don't or won't take it up to the detriment of society. Yet the population have no other option to use the vehicles (no pun intended) given by big business, yet the blame is still focussed towards the user, when in fact, it's no more than a choice between two opposing politicians that carry the same agenda.
If you want to use the words 'green', 'sustainable', 'eco' etc, you will find in most cases the production or transportation of, is against the very principle it positions it's self within the 'green' belt to begin with. Applying the green message to your business for me is just another trend or fad that could become law (in some places it has) to the expense of the user. I found a website that states 98% of all touted US green products were not as they claimed to be. Standards have yet to be implemented in a main central database & I'll shudder when they do, as this will be another pay-day for the biggest corporations in it's sector, taking advantage of it's political connections to put it's product at the top of the pile, be it a chemical or standard of work.
If you want to use the words 'green', 'sustainable', 'eco' etc, you will find in most cases the production or transportation of, is against the very principle it positions it's self within the 'green' belt to begin with. Applying the green message to your business for me is just another trend or fad that could become law (in some places it has) to the expense of the user. I found a website that states 98% of all touted US green products were not as they claimed to be. Standards have yet to be implemented in a main central database & I'll shudder when they do, as this will be another pay-day for the biggest corporations in it's sector, taking advantage of it's political connections to put it's product at the top of the pile, be it a chemical or standard of work.
My business is cleaning as well. I'll take safety over cost effectiveness & I'll take common sense over political numbness. If you can truly claim your business is totally green or looking for ways of becoming totally green you will find your self being stopped at a certain point due to limitations within the system. As for the green, sustainable wagon - I think we need to step back & take a look how we got here in the first place. I think you will find it wasn't chosen by the people, more of implemented by the greed from above. It's time to question the vehicle, not jump on the gravy train.
Dan: While I'm not as literate or passionate as Karl on this matter, I also think that 'green' is already jaded and used more for monetary advantage than for customer benefit. True green is leaving a very small carbon footprint, not too easily done when every aspect is considered.
Marla: Karl, Quite a lot of the green movement is about condemning big business. I agree that big business can and will control quite a lot of market share on any product/service. I don't have a problem with that because anyone can make anything they want unless it infringes upon another's property rights. But, if a company invests it's time, energy and capital (including labor) into developing something, I think they should get paid for it. I don't work for free and don't expect anyone else to, either.
Example of how issues can be mis-characterized and business in general demonized: Tesla coils. Great energy source using the earth as a conductor. Sounds great. It's free, blah blah blah. However, there are a lot of hazards that are associated with Telsa coils, including but not limited to: ozone poisoning, electrical current damage to the body (yes, death as well), destruction of any nearby electrical equipment and nitrous oxide poisoning. I sure won't be hooking my computer up to one in the near future. I'll wait until a 'big company' makes it safer and more reasonable for me to operate.
Re: "government won't take it up" It's not the government's job to 'take it up'. If you don't want 'big business' controlling what you have access to, why are you advocating big government controlling it? The only way a monopoly can exist in a free market is to have the support of government through restrictions on competition.
I'm all for greening up America. However, I refuse to support anything that advocates other people telling me what to do and when to do it in my personal or business life except on a very limited scale.
I agree re: standards. (to an extent). I educate myself on what's green and what's not. As an adult I expect other adults to do the same. I don't make a claim I can't support, which is why I make it clear I'm only as green as my business model allows. As it allows and I investigate products thoroughly, I'll add products that I know are better for the environment, no matter where they come from. If it's a big company, maybe I can get them cheaper, thus empowering me to implement greener strategies on a faster time scale or donate to a green cause I support.
If you regard applying the green message to your business as "just another trend or fad" by all means don't apply it to yours as that would make you unauthentic to your clients and lose trust.
As for safety over cost effectiveness, that's a given. Otherwise we'd all be donning hazmat suits to clean. Political numbness sounds pretty close to an insult, but of course since we're all professionals here to learn from each other, not get into flame wars, it's not intended as such so I'll ignore it. Same with the gravy train comment. :-)
Finally, if I wanted to be 'totally green', there's nothing stopping me. Natural cleaners abound right on our grocery shelves so there are no limitations within the system. I have limits on the greening of my business because I choose to use a business model that allows me to learn as I go. I could easily use my grandmother's home cleaners and be considered totally green since she used her own home garden. However, as I've studied I've learned there are possibilities of green alternatives to some of those home cleaners that are not only better for the environment but also clean better. My investigations continue.
Example of how issues can be mis-characterized and business in general demonized: Tesla coils. Great energy source using the earth as a conductor. Sounds great. It's free, blah blah blah. However, there are a lot of hazards that are associated with Telsa coils, including but not limited to: ozone poisoning, electrical current damage to the body (yes, death as well), destruction of any nearby electrical equipment and nitrous oxide poisoning. I sure won't be hooking my computer up to one in the near future. I'll wait until a 'big company' makes it safer and more reasonable for me to operate.
Re: "government won't take it up" It's not the government's job to 'take it up'. If you don't want 'big business' controlling what you have access to, why are you advocating big government controlling it? The only way a monopoly can exist in a free market is to have the support of government through restrictions on competition.
I'm all for greening up America. However, I refuse to support anything that advocates other people telling me what to do and when to do it in my personal or business life except on a very limited scale.
I agree re: standards. (to an extent). I educate myself on what's green and what's not. As an adult I expect other adults to do the same. I don't make a claim I can't support, which is why I make it clear I'm only as green as my business model allows. As it allows and I investigate products thoroughly, I'll add products that I know are better for the environment, no matter where they come from. If it's a big company, maybe I can get them cheaper, thus empowering me to implement greener strategies on a faster time scale or donate to a green cause I support.
If you regard applying the green message to your business as "just another trend or fad" by all means don't apply it to yours as that would make you unauthentic to your clients and lose trust.
As for safety over cost effectiveness, that's a given. Otherwise we'd all be donning hazmat suits to clean. Political numbness sounds pretty close to an insult, but of course since we're all professionals here to learn from each other, not get into flame wars, it's not intended as such so I'll ignore it. Same with the gravy train comment. :-)
Finally, if I wanted to be 'totally green', there's nothing stopping me. Natural cleaners abound right on our grocery shelves so there are no limitations within the system. I have limits on the greening of my business because I choose to use a business model that allows me to learn as I go. I could easily use my grandmother's home cleaners and be considered totally green since she used her own home garden. However, as I've studied I've learned there are possibilities of green alternatives to some of those home cleaners that are not only better for the environment but also clean better. My investigations continue.
Dan, you said it well and succinctly. (Though I would add the caveat 'by some' to "green is already jaded and used...... ")
If you are a member of 'Linked In' & would like to leave a comment, why not go to the group & have your say. If not, why not leave an answer in the comments section of the blog.
Right-Wing Reactionaries Ridicule Earth Day: Tomorrow is Good Friday, the day on which Jesus Christ was crucified. More important to many is that it's also Earth Day, the annual gala that's taken on the trappings of a pagan religious holiday. At some level, it's good to celebrate Earth, the source of life and home of humanity. After all, we have to live somewhere. Environmentalists, however, seem divided between those who venerate the planet as a deity and those who think it's so fragile that it must be saved from everyone but themselves.
Earth Day has become inextricably linked with global-warming mania. Al Gore - a man with one of the largest carbon footprints in the world - recently likened the struggle to reduce emissions to the civil-rights movement. This is in keeping with the sanctimonious tone that usually accompanies Earth Day proclamations. To the radical greens, it's a day for humanity to engage in self-abasement, bow before the altar of Gaia and apologize for the offense against nature of simply being alive. It's a day to conjure fears, preach limits and condemn the capitalist system that created a country wealthy enough to indulge these shiftless hippies in the first place.
Custodians introduce energy-saving technology: Janitorial services move toward sustainable cleaning techniques - The new product is a microfiber cleaning technology used mostly in wipes, mops and pads. It uses more water and fewer harmful products, said Michael Smith, supervisor of Academic Custodial Services. The use of microfiber allows water to become the cleaning agent. It can reduce up to 97 percent of hard-surface bacteria, fungi and viruses, according to the Academic Custodial Services website. “The journey to (be) green started 10 years ago,” Smith said. Green practices have no harm on the cleaner, client or environment, Smith said. “We eliminated more than 60 (chemical) products,” he said.
They had harsh ingredients like bleach, ammonium, butyls and benzene. Chemicals such as these can cause health problems and birth defects, Smith said. “Green cleaning is not just products but also processes,” said Don Bakkensen, manager of Building Services. “We are some of the national forerunners of green cleaning processes and products.” After reducing the number of chemical products, the custodial services now uses three main cleaning products: a window cleaner, a neutral cleaner (mostly used for floors) and a disinfectant sanitizer, Smith said. The custodial services has requirements for their cleaning products.
All their products are “green” certified, meaning they do not contain toxic ingredients and are made with minimal and recycled packaging, according to the Academic Custodial Services website. “We plan to remain at the forefront of this effort by continuing to investigate new methods, equipment, and products to use for our cleaning effort,” said Tim Wynn, director of Facilities Management. Smith said the custodial services would also like to use a floor scrubber that uses only water and no chemical products at all. A machine ionizes the water allowing it to create positive and negative charges and when sprayed on a surface, it clings to the particles and lifts them. In only 45 seconds, the electrically charged water can be turned back into tap water, Smith said. “This would save major chemical purchase money,” he said.
The technology is still being tested and it will be introduced in the next six months. Using only tap water would save Western money because the custodial services provides cleaning for 131 academic and state-supported facilities, according to their website. “We believe that we have the ‘greenest’ cleaning methods among higher education institutions in the United States,” Wynn said. Academic Custodial Services has been a green department since 2003 and a nationally recognized leader in the green cleaning movement since 2000.
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