Earth Day 2023: Celebrating Eco Friendly Commercial Cleaning Products & Innovations
Earth Day serves as an annual reminder that there’s an opportunity to do more, on both a personal and professional level, when it comes to investing in the health of our planet. For the commercial cleaning industry, supporting environmental health means designing new innovations with sustainability and green cleaning initiatives in mind. And for those relying on these tools and equipment, considering ways to integrate eco-friendly commercial cleaning products will not only help minimize the impact on the environment, but also provide a myriad benefits to your organization.
The Goal of Eco-Friendly Cleaning
The goal of eco-friendly cleaning is to reduce the environmental impact of cleaning activities while maintaining clean and healthy spaces. Eco-friendly commercial cleaning can involve a wide range of solutions, such as using reusable cleaning tools and equipment, conserving resources such as water, and reducing the reliance on harsh chemicals.
When commercial cleaning professionals and facilities invest in these solutions, they are demonstrating their investment in the planet. They are also taking steps towards improving their financial performance by reducing energy and water consumption; protecting human health by decreasing waste and potentially harmful emissions; and enhancing their overall brand reputation.
Adopting Eco Friendly Commercial Cleaning Products & Practices
Whether you’re just getting started with greener, more sustainable cleaning initiatives, or continuing your commitment to achieve current objectives, there are four practices you can evaluate in your commercial cleaning program:
- Adopting green-certified cleaning chemicals
These green-certified certifications are typically awarded by third-party organizations that evaluate a product’s environmental impact and sustainability based on factors such as chemical composition and packaging. Only the safest, most responsible, and most effective products in the marketplace can achieve this level of certification.
- Using tools that require less chemical use and produce less waste
When cleaning high access windows, exchanging traditional outdoor window cleaning methods with pure water is an easily identifiable opportunity to use less chemicals. Pure water cleaning utilizes tap water after it is stripped of its naturally occurring impurities. When the pure water reaches the window, the water immediately wants to return to its natural, impure state by attaching itself to any dirt, dust and other particles on the surface. Once the elements meet, they bond together for easy removal during the rinse step of the process – all without any chemical cleaning solution.
- Lessening reliance on disposable products
One of the simplest replacements a facility can make in their cleaning practices is switching from disposable paper towels to reusable microfiber cleaning cloths. While paper towels are convenient and hassle-free, the cost of paper towel use gets expensive over time when you consider that consumers discard over 254 million tons of paper towels each year. In the U.S. alone, over 51,000 trees are cut down to support paper towel consumption daily.
As an alternative to paper towels, microfiber cloths provide a more sustainable cleaning option, lasting up to 1500 wash cycles. Microfiber technology also has the natural ability to attract and hold contaminants without the use of harsh cleaning chemicals.
- Using tools that use less water
Traditional wet mopping with a cotton mophead uses a significant amount of water. Looking at the cotton string mop’s counterpart, the microfiber mophead, it uses measurably less water. According to the EPA, conventional Wet Loop Mops use 105 gallons of water per 100 rooms while a microfiber mop uses only 5 gallons per 100 rooms.
Dual mop bucket systems are also significantly more efficient and environmentally friendly than single-bucket systems. The latter holds just about five gallons of cleaning solution, which cleans about 1,000 square feet when used with a cotton string mop. By contrast, a five-gallon dual-chamber paired with a microfiber flat mop bucket can clean 3,000 square feet, reducing water and chemical consumption by up to 66 percent.
Are You Ready to Clean Faster, Safer and More Eco Friendly?
Investing in your planet with eco-friendly commercial cleaning products doesn’t have to come at the expense of achieving the deepest clean, or the highest level of safety, speed, or profit. If you’re ready to evaluate your cleaning, and see how you can support more sustainable practices, Unger is ready to help.