Hospitals, Vendors Take Colorful Approaches To Green Cleaning

As more healthcare organizations pledge to reduce their carbon footprint and simultaneously make their facilities safer and healthier for patients, visitors and staff, Environmental Services is increasingly playing a bigger role in those efforts.

Making "green cleaning" more of a priority is indeed prudent. Switching to high-quality, eco-friendly products, services and practices can not only provide superior cleaning results and a rapid return on investment, the move may also boost staff morale and strengthen facilities’ competitive advantage.

"Sustainable cleaning practices are an essential part of sustainable building. Traditional cleaning products present a variety of human and ecological concerns. They may contribute to poor indoor air quality and contain chemicals that cause cancer, reproductive disorders, respiratory ailments – including occupational asthma – eye and skin irritation, central nervous system impairment, and other human health effects," the University of Chicago Medical Center reports. Further, some products contain persistent bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals (PBTs), are classified as hazardous waste, and/or otherwise contribute to environmental pollution during their manufacture, transport, use, and disposal.

Facilities that haven’t yet transitioned to more eco-friendly cleaning supplies and vendors for fear of over-priced, inadequate products should take another look. Not only is the green cleaning product portfolio ever-expanding, quality and efficacy is on the rise, and, in many cases, price points are falling, sources told Healthcare Purchasing News.
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Source: Healthcare Purchasing News