Sizemore's 10 Stewardship Principles for Green Cleaning
- Committing our people to education and communications. Our success in providing a green
janitorial program involves both the cleaning personnel and building occupants. Get people
involved and keep them involved by celebrating and communicating successes, and let them
know the value/benefits that are in it for them.
- Clean to protect health and the environment first, and appearance second. Even clean
appearing buildings can be extremely unhealthy. Thus, focus our cleaning for health and
the environment, and in most cases the appearance will be addressed at the same time.
- Clean and maintain the building as a whole, not just as separate components. Cleaning
and maintenance in one area of a building can have a major impact on other areas. For
example, the fumes from the stripping and recoating of a floor in one area can contaminate
adjacent areas or even the entire building via the HVAC system. Appropriate actions must
take place to insure the health and safety throughout the entire building.
- Schedule routine maintenance. Scheduled maintenance that is frequent and thorough is the
most efficient and effective method for building maintenance. Concise plans and records
are a must.
- Plan for accidents. Specific procedures need to be developed to address accidents.
Plans should address weather related problems, as well as common spills (e.g., coffee),
water leaks, smoke or air contamination by a noxious chemical reaction.
- Minimize both the cleaners' and buildings occupants to harmful contaminants and cleaning
residues. Workers should always use the appropriate personal protective equipment, areas
where work is taking place should have adequate ventilation, work schedules should be
established to minimize exposure to building occupants and the products used should be
the most benign to accomplish the task.
- Minimize chemical, particle and moisture residue when cleaning. Products used for
building maintenance due to their ability to quickly and efficiently remove oils, soils,
living organisms, etc., can also contribute to a building's problem if used incorrectly.
- Ensure worker and building occupant safety at all times.
- Minimize the amount of pollutants entering the building, while maximizing the amount
of pollutants extracted. It is significantly more effective in terms of both time and
money to keep contaminants out of the building than to try to remove them once they
have entered.
- Dispose of cleaning waste in environmentally safe ways.
Click to watch us on
Request additional info. »