Chemical-free, or green cleaning, is becoming a fast growing trend among universities and corporate businesses. According to the Guardian's interview with Stephen Ashkin, executive director of a non-profit group who works with corporations that seek out green cleaning methods, 30 to 50 percent of corporations and universities in the United States clean their facilities with green or chemical free products.
Ashkin said, "The professional cleaning industry has changed. The newer trend experts are seeing is cleaning without chemicals."
Why Green Cleaning
It should to as no surprise that cleaning chemicals can be harsh on certain materials as well as on human bodies. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently released an infographic detailing the dangers of chemical cleaning products for the workers that use them on a regular basis. OSHA mentions that chemical cleaners can cause a wide range of ailments from coughing to skin rashes to nosebleeds and asthma. They recommend wearing eye protection, gloves, and protective clothing to try to prevent these ailments.
Of course, a better solution to this issue would be to stop using toxic chemical cleaning supplies all together. In their stead, corporations are switching to green cleaning supplies. These kinds of supplies not only help those exposed to cleaners, but they also benefit the environment in numerous ways.
Stephen Ashkin confirms this by stating, "Conventional cleaning requires extracting the raw materials, turning these into ingredients, shipping to a formulator who mixes everything into an effective cleaning product before putting the chemicals into packaging (with their own environmental impacts) and finally shipping to the end user. Through green cleaning those impacts go away."
With all the hazards of toxic cleaning chemicals, chemical-free cleaning companies are expected to grow. One company that manufactures green cleaning appliances has seen an almost 10 percent boost in sales in the past year, according to their 2014 earnings release statement.
Numbers are only going up for certain companies, but rather spending is going down for Coca-Cola Netherlands. They saved 29,500 Euros over the past three years when they made the switch to eco-friendly, green cleaning.
The United States government has been on the eco-friendly cleaning bandwagon for years now. According to the Environmental Protection Agency's 2000 case study, Yellowstone National Park's custodial employees uses cleaning products made from corn and soy to provide clean visitor centers and offices.
Proof in Numbers
And then there are the universities and higher-education institutions that have begun to rely on chemical-free cleaning products. CleanLink's case study showed that Somerset Charter School scored better cleanliness scores with chemical-free cleaning products than with their toxic chemical-laden counterparts. The elementary school's bathrooms scored 84.3 percent cleanliness and classrooms topped at 90.3 percent. CleanLink claims these are some of the highest scores they have ever seen.
Numbers are higher for cleanliness because chemical cleaners can leave behind residues. These residues can be seen in the form of streaks on glass windows and porcelain countertops. It is also important to remember that the residues of the products rubs off on anything that touches them: hands, clothes, and cell phones. The chemicals that can enter your body or be carried around to other environments putting other people at risk of coming in contact with them.
If the government, large corporations, and education institutions are making the switch to eco-friendly, or green, cleaning companies and supplies, the question becomes why haven't more made the switch.
Many chemical cleaners have a strong fragrance that may lead some to believe that the chemical cleaners work better. However, OSHA would like to remind those people that clean should not, and generally does not, have a smell.