When it comes to your home, you are probably very aware of your carbon footprint. But did you realise you could be doing a lot more? Your business cleaning service may be using products filled with chemicals that you would never consider allowing into your home. Here are 6 steps to make sure your office cleaning service is keeping your business a safe, green environment.
1. Give them an alternative to commercial furniture polish.
Obviously you want your cleaning service to polish your office furniture to a high sheen. But they can get the same results as a commercial furniture polish with natural ingredients. Ask them to use a blend of vegetable oil and lemon juice in the following ratio: ¼ cup lemon juice to ¾ cup vegetable oil. They can mix up a batch and put it into spray bottles for each cleaning person to be used the same as regular furniture polish.
2. Help the recycling process.
Help make sure your cleaning company recycles your company’s trash by supplying clearly marked recycling containers at every employee’s desk. However your local recycling company prefers plastic, glass, metal and paper to be separated, make sure it’s easy and convenient for both your cleaning service people and your employees to sort their recyclables.
3. Ask them to skip the bags.
Cleaning services will typically line every small trash can with a plastic bag after they empty the rubbish. Ask them to skip the plastic bags. Make employees responsible for keeping their personal trash barrel clean.
4. Provide washable cloths.
Instead of having the cleaning service use endless rolls of paper towels cleaning your office kitchen and windows, provide them with washable cloths. Lint-free cloths work even better for clear, streak-free windows.
5. Reschedule them.
Typically, cleaning crews work at night, after everyone has left for the day. While this makes sense so they don’t interrupt the workflow of the office, it requires you to leave the lights on nearly all night until they arrive and finish cleaning up. Instead, see if they’d be willing to reschedule their work routine so they arrive in the early morning, before your employees arrive. They’ll be able to work in the morning sunlight instead of the incandescent bulbs in the office.
6. Use the power of steam.
If you provide steam mops for your cleaning service, they’ll be glad to save money on expensive floor cleaning chemicals. Steam cleaners work great on tile, linoleum and even hardwood floors. The initial investment that you’ll have to make will pay off in how green your office cleaning service has become.
As you can see, there are lots of ways that you can help the environment when you decide to green up your cleaning service. And that’s the kind of change that can help all of us.