Seize the opportunities from green cleaning
June 1st 2006

By Mark Armitage, ISSA director of European Services

Green issues are definitely the hot topic of the moment: The Conservatives recently pledged to make environmental issues a greater party priority, while Labour re-affirmed its commitment to cutting CO2 emissions. Even growing numbers of blue chip and public sector organisations are pledging to become greener, as increasingly environmentally aware customers start to make more informed choices about who they will buy from.

For a sector that has suffered considerable budget cuts and a reduction in activities over recent years, the interest in green issues offers a significant market opportunity for the cleaning industry. A shift in thinking from focusing solely on costs and efficiencies to the needs of building occupants and the environment could actually lead to an increase in cleaning budgets, simultaneously improving results, for enhanced worker and industry esteem and greater profits for all in the cleaning industry.

What is green cleaning? Put simply, it is cleaning to protect health while minimising the negative effects on the environment. Green cleaning should also be a process of continual improvement and transcend all areas of a business.

Companies interested in becoming greener should consider the needs of their building occupants, the products they are using, availability of waste and recycling containers and any pollution-prevention strategies they employ.

While the ideas behind green cleaning sound very workable, it can be bewildering to know where to start, or how to put them into practice. There is however a multitude of educational and training resources available to help ISSA/CHSA/CSSA members: including an extensive range of seminar workshops chaired by industry academics plus access to online training facilities, which incorporate special programmes dedicated to safety and environmental issues.

Green issues are certainly the buzz words of the moment and if we are to create a more sustainable future we need to start implementing green policies now. Anyone involved in the cleaning industry must act now and seize the market opportunities available to them.

For further info call the number below or email: mark@issa.com

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