Develop a Green Cleaning Plan

A written plan that includes measurable goals, along with specific strategies and implementation steps for meeting these goals, can help move your Green Cleaning Program forward. This process involves gathering baseline data, setting goals and strategies, setting priorities, establishing an implementation timetable and staffing plan, and determining how you will evaluate progress. Remember that every situation is unique, and no two schools will have the same plan. These differences are normal, and reflect the priorities and resource availabilities in a particular situation.

Gathering Baseline Data

Start by briefly auditing your current facility/housekeeping products, procedures and training programs. The goal of these surveys is to set priorities, make good purchase decisions, and demonstrate the advantages of the Green Cleaning program in your school.

Use one of the simple inventory forms included in Resources and Tools to document current information on:

Other data that can be helpful to have for planning purposes, if available:

Having an experienced cleaning person on the Green Team will be very helpful when gathering this information. Vendor representatives have proven very valuable in this portion of the process.

Establish Goals and Strategies

Use the baseline data to identify critical problems and areas of risk, along with the best opportunities for improvement, in your school environment. Remember that you are implementing a series of improvements, which is an ongoing process that will evolve over time. It is also important to consider specific contract or other regulations that might constrain your options. The following are a few common goals and strategies included in Green Cleaning Implementation Plans. Click on the goals below to read more:

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• Reduce Toxic Exposure

Reducing the number, type, and toxicity of the chemicals used to clean your school is an excellent goal and easy to demonstrate and quantify. Even the most “natural” cleaning agents are potentially dangerous if used improperly. Specifying products that perform as well as current products while reducing exposure or health and environmental impacts can be a significant step forward for your Green Cleaning program. For an overview of this process, see Step 1: Switch to Green Cleaning Products. For specific guidelines, see Choosing Green Cleaning Products.

• Pollution Prevention

Most Green Cleaning plans include strategies to reduce cleaning requirements by preventing the introduction of dirt and other contaminants into the school in the first place. This can be as simple as adding appropriately sized entryway mats, to more complex solutions including adding breezeways or covered entrance points. Proposed repairs to building structures are typically included among these strategies.

• Source Reduction

This involves efforts to reduce pollution and harmful exposures by reducing consumption of potentially toxic and/or nonrenewable materials in the following areas:

• Chemicals: Dilution control equipment can protect the user from exposure to the concentrated product, and it also helps prevent overuse and waste, reducing consumption up to 65% compared to non-portion controlled means of mixing concentrated chemicals. Furthermore, the use of dilution control equipment by reducing consumption can help schools save money. For more information, see Step 3: Adopt Green Cleaning Procedures. For recommended sources of dilution control equipment, see Featured Green Products.

• Equipment: Invest in well-designed and manufactured tools that will last for years vs. the typical “throw-away” items often used in the cleaning industry. Purchase products that replace or reduce the need for certain chemicals or paper products, such as microfiber cloths for general purpose cleaning and wiping. For more information, see Step 2: Introduce Green Equipment and Supplies. For specific guidelines, see Choosing Green Equipment and Supplies.

• Janitorial paper supplies: Replace multi-fold towels with hands-free dispensers, which limit the over-use of paper and help reduce the spread of germs. Installing air dryers versus paper wipes may be valuable in some situations, and the use of larger roll dispensers with limiters to prevent waste can save money as well as paper. Finally consider using non-traditional products such as microfiber cloths to reduce the reliance on paper as a general purpose wipe. For more strategies in this area, see Choosing Green Paper and Plastic Products.

• Increase Recycling

Along with source reduction, Green Cleaning program plans typically include a recycling component. This component should include specifying the use of products with higher recycled content as well as the ability to recycle waste products. Along with typical recycled content in paper, your team should look at the tools such as mop handles, buckets, trash cans and liners. A simple component of your plan could be to specify liners made from recycled content, sized to properly fit the containers and eliminated completely where possible. For more information, see Step 4: Use Green Paper and Plastic Products and Choosing Green Paper and Plastic Products.

• Increase Purchasing Efficiencies and Cost Savings

It is possible to achieve significant efficiencies in the procurement of chemicals, equipment, and supplies by reducing the number of different cleaning chemicals and the total quantity used in the school or district in connection with the Green Cleaning Program. For recommended sources see Featured Green Products.

• Reduce Illness and Absenteeism

When Green Cleaning is a part of an overall Indoor Air Quality Plan, the school may see a reduction in the total number of student and staff absences due to illnesses, along with visits to the school nurse, resulting from airborne contaminants and chemical exposures. Children are uniquely vulnerable to health effects caused by exposure to environmental hazards. Their bodies are still developing and they eat, breathe, and drink more than adults in proportion to their body size. Their behavior puts them closer to the ground and involves hand to mouth contact that can increase their exposure to environmental contaminants. Reduced illness due to improved indoor air quality is only possible to demonstrate if your school keeps good records about absences and symptoms/complaints. Lockport Township High School is a case in point.

• Improve Custodial Staff Worker Safety

Studies have shown that on an annual basis, six out of every hundred janitors have lost time due to chemical injuries on the job. In addition, janitors experience one of the highest rates of occupationally induced asthma.

• Increase Productivity & Ergonomics

Maintain or improve the cleanliness of the school using fewer staff hours by allowing custodians to clean better and accomplish other assignments within the budget, in other words, to “do more with less.” This goal can be met in a number of ways, including introducing green cleaning equipment, such as vacuums that do more than remove enough soil to make the carpets “look” clean. A more productive vacuum will remove more soil from the carpet while its filtration system will prevent blowing the fine dust particles back into the air, allowing a user to cover a larger area with less fatigue while preventing strains and injuries, thus reducing workman’s compensation claims and lost time incidents. For more information, see Step 2: Introducing Green Equipment and Supplies and Step 3: Adopting Green Cleaning Procedures.

• Improve Indoor Air Quality

This is an important overall goal, but one that is difficult to demonstrate and measure without significant expense. Particle sampling can be an impressive measure if done correctly with the proper equipment, but tends to be extremely expensive. Alternatively, some schools have quantified the number of complaints they received regarding the indoor air quality (IAQ). It is important when taking such measurements that baseline data be collected before the program is implemented. The EPA’s Tools for Schools program offers resources and assistance for implementing IAQ plans. See Resources and Tools for more information.

• Improve Public Relations

As public awareness increases regarding the importance of school environmental health, schools who adopt a Green Cleaning Program can reap large public relations benefits if they communicate their commitment to green cleaning, along with specific goals and achievements, to parents and the community at large.

Timetable and Staffing

The plan should also outline a general timetable for implementation, identify responsible parties and pinpoint milestones that can be measured and celebrated along the way.