Healthy

Health Pyramid

A lot of press has been given to green cleaning products and we at Porter Industries think this is good, but we also feel this is just the beginning of a true Green Cleaning program. Green Cleaning at its core, and the way we address it in our PorterClean approach, is more encompassing than simply using green chemicals;. A Green Cleaning program must contain written guidelines for all aspects of the cleaning program that affect either the indoor or outdoor environment and it must have performance guidelines that address the efficacy of the cleaning program. It is our sincere conviction that a cleaning program that does not address both the environmental sustainability and the effectiveness of the cleaning being performed is simply not PorterClean.

 All cleaning chemicals and products chosen to be a part of the PorterClean arsenal have been carefully chosen by consensus. Our entire Leadership Committee (front line supervisors, department managers, operations managers and division administrators) committed to this process and all chemicals and products must be third-party certified as both effective and environmentally responsible. Our committee typically uses Greenseal™ or Environmental Protection Agency's Designed for the Environment (DfE™) certification as their preferred certifications.

What does this mean for our customers? Our customers spend much of their day in the homes and businesses we clean. The EPA estimates that the average American spends 90% of their life indoors or within the built environment. This means that most of the 22 pounds of air we breathe each day is drawn from air in the built environment. The products we clean with, maintain floors with and care for carpet with become part of this air we breathe. Using products that are certified as low to no impact for the built environment is “business as usual” in the PorterClean approach.

 The use of chemicals and equipment that are certified green is not sufficient for a complete environmentally responsible cleaning program. Chemicals applied incorrectly (used for the wrong purpose, over or under diluted, etc.) are unlikely to be effective and may even pose human health risks. Equipment, even green equipment, used for purposes other than what this equipment was designed to do can also create ineffective outcomes or pose health risks for the user or facility occupant. Using an easily pictured example a hammer that was engineered for excellence in hammering and manufactured out of the finest hammering materials known to man will still be a poor tool for sawing wood. To saw wood effectively you not only would avoid using a hammer, but you might also even be particular what kind of saw you used for the job at hand. Cleaning chemicals and tools also have specified uses and users should be trained and evaluated by valid and reliable procedures documented in a written cleaning program.