Green cleaning alternatives can include:
• Replacing the traditional glass cleaner with one that has no solvents — a detergent, or soap-based cleaner that produces fewer vapors;
• Applying the product in a stream rather than a mist to reduce the vapors; and
• Applying the spray to a wiping cloth, rather than directly onto the glass, to reduce the vapors.

Building Occupants’ Behavior

If occupants eat in their individual offices, they are likely to produce crumbs that can attract pests. This might require more frequent pesticide or rodenticide applications than if all eating were centralized in a lunchroom or conference room. In addition, if employees clean up coffee or beverage spills at the time of a spill, rather than wait for the cleaning crew to do it (especially when it involves carpets or other fabrics), janitors can use fewer, and less-toxic, cleaning products than if spills dry or seep into carpet. Hence, green cleaning requires some involvement by building occupants.

The Dept. of Interior says, Green cleaning is a concept; it is a collection of new tools and practices that can be applied to traditional approaches. Green cleaning approaches vary from building to building. It works if the products and processes used are targeted to the specific risks associated with each building, and if building managers, janitorial personnel, and building occupants all participate in the development of a green cleaning plan.

Why It’s Important

Green cleaning is all about reducing risk. Risk is the measure of the probability and severity of harm to human health or the environment. It is based on the type and toxicity of a hazard (that is, its potential effect on plants, animals, humans, and ecosystems) and the type and degree of exposure to that hazard (based on intensity, frequency and duration).

Risk is characterized by evaluating hazard and exposure together, along with the pathways by which people or the environment are likely to become exposed (e.g., through eyes, skin, lungs or mouth and through contact with contaminated air, water or soil).

No matter what changes are made to traditional products and processes, cleaning buildings — like all other activities in life — will never be without risk. All risk, however, can be evaluated on a continuum that ranges from very high to very low. Current cleaning practices might pose very high risks or avoidable risks, and changing certain practices and products might reduce unnecessarily hazardous practices with alternatives that are equally effective.

Keep in mind, however, that although hazards and exposures generally can be evaluated for humans or the environment, the specific risk to an individual person or individual waterway, for example, will be unique based on individual circumstances, such as pre-existing health conditions, and vulnerabilities (i.e., asthma, heart disease) (for example, children and the elderly are more vulnerable).

There are also trade-offs to be considered for example, using a less-toxic product that requires more scrubbing to be effective might reduce the risk of inhalation or skin contact, but that might also increase the risk of arm or hand injuries brought on by additional scrubbing.

Overall, however, the practice of green cleaning has many benefits. Green cleaning can:
• Reduce health effects to building occupants and janitorial staff, such as skin, eye, and respiratory irritation or burns, allergies, multiple-chemical sensitivity, headaches, nausea or other gastrointestinal ailments, poisoning, cancer, reproductive hazards, and damage to liver, kidneys, and other internal organs;

• Increase safety by reducing the likelihood and frequency of fires, explosions, spills, and splashes;

• Reduce environmental impacts, including regional and global environmental issues such as air pollution, water pollution, raw materials resource use, bioaccumulation of chemicals in plants and animals, ozone depletion, and global climate change. Green cleaning also reduces the amount and toxicity of products and chemicals requiring disposal;

• Reduce costs to building management, tenants, and/or the janitorial company associated with sick leave, health care, productivity loss, and litigation; and

• Increase occupant and worker satisfaction, including improved morale, productivity and efficiency, quality of life, and sense of well-being. This can result from decreased health effects and decreased annoyances such as malodor.

Mandates

Green cleaning is evolving into a professional standard. In fact, several federal mandates already exist that require federal agencies to consider environmentally preferable products and services in their acquisitions and procurements.

Executive Order 13101, “Greening the Government through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition,” requires federal procurement officers to consider environmental factors in their purchasing and contracting decisions, and it directed the EPA to develop guidance to address environmentally preferable purchasing.

Regulatory Burdens

Can Green Cleaning Help Reduce Regulatory Burdens? Green cleaning can potentially help agencies, municipalities, or companies reduce the regulatory burdens associated with the use, storage, or disposal of chemicals used in traditional cleaning. Organizations should be familiar with the regulations governing the use of janitorial chemicals.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulates most agencies, municipalities, or companies that use dangerous chemicals in the workplace. OSHA regulations require employers to protect the health and safety of their employees through training, use of certain procedures (including personal protection), development of emergency plans, and more.

In addition, the EPA has also passed several regulations affecting the janitorial industry:

If companies discharge dangerous chemicals directly or indirectly into the waters of the United States, they might be regulated under the Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Act specifies chemicals and chemical limits that can and cannot be discharged into the public sewer system, as this wastewater is eventually discharged into surface waters such as rivers or streams. Concerns for janitorial companies include chemicals or mixtures poured into the sink or toilets, such as floor finish containing zinc or toilet bowl cleaner containing hydrochloric acid. The Clean Air Act regulates air emissions from area, stationary, and mobile sources. Under this law, EPA establishes national ambient air quality standards to protect public health and the environment.

The Clean Air Act also seeks to prevent accidental releases of certain hazardous chemicals and minimize the consequences of such releases. Janitorial companies should consider whether the volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from certain chemical products such as aerosol cleaners, or methylene chlorides from graffiti removers exceed Clean Air Act limits.

If organizations create wastes that are hazardous (for example, rags that are soaked in solvents, unused cleaning chemicals that become waste, or residue from spills), they are regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). RCRA imposes certain rules upon the generator of hazardous waste (usually the building in which the wastes are created and/or the cleaning company itself), including recordkeeping, storage, disposal requirements and emergency procedures.

Defining green cleaning is not a simple task, neither is implementing it or meeting the numerous government regulations that affect and mandate it. Knowing what it means, though, may be a good first step toward achieving it. ❑