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Can green cleaning achieve hygienic results?

2 Sep 2015

According to an article entitled The New Cleaning Motto, the professional cleaning industry's approach to cleaning should rank people's health first on its list of priorities, followed by environmental protection and, lastly, appearance. The author, Dawn Shoemaker, cautions against losing sight of the importance of human health in the drive for environmental protection.

Clinton Smith, Technical and Sales Director of Green Worx Cleaning Solutions

"In any industry where cleanliness and hygiene is of utmost importance for health and safety - food, hospitality, laundry, health care - the elimination of damaging germs and bacteria must be the focus," confirmed Clinton Smith, Technical and Sales Director of Green Worx Cleaning Solutions. "Yet if this is the only focus and steps are not taken to protect the environment, the healthy people will have no world to live in."

Ultimately, if the correct green cleaning products are selected, health and eco-friendly goals can be achieved. In the plethora of green washing and false claims, however, it can be difficult to distinguish green and hygienic cleaning fare from products that are gentle on both germs and the environment (rendering them ineffective).

Check product certifications

Shoemaker, a frequent writer for the professional cleaning and building industries in the US, believes that: "Today, most green certification programmes not only look to see if a product is manufactured with ingredients that have a reduced impact on the environment, but also verify that its performance is compatible with - if not better than - comparable traditional products". Smith agrees: "Check product certifications! If it isn't certified it either isn't green or it isn't hygienic - choose a product that is certified for both."

Going green doesn't mean forsaking human health for that of the environment. In fact, products that contain chemicals that release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are incredibly detrimental to human health. "What many observers foresee in the near future will be more cleaning procedures and equipment that require no chemicals whatsoever yet are still effective," confirmed Shoemaker.

Green cleaning is evolving at a rapid pace while enzymatic cleaners that offer both health benefits and environmental protection are fast emerging as the product of choice for green, hygienic cleaning. "Why not choose products that offer superior solutions to all three professional cleaning requirements; health, environmental and appearance?" concluded Smith.