Sustainability is on everyone’s minds, and making your floor care more environmentally friendly is a great start for a sustainable maintenance strategy.  As the “green cleaning” trend evolves into assessing the long-term effects of your products and practices, how can you adjust your floor care? Green products and practices are important, but lowering your carbon footprint means prioritizing your entire environmental impact, like waste generation, water usage, and chemical usage.

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There are three main types of floor care to consider: preventative, restorative, and maintenance, and each type of program will have varying sustainable elements. For example, maintenance cleaning may involve mopping the floors, which can help limit airborne particles. Work on creating a plan specific to each type of cleaning to get the most out of your sustainability strategy.

There are several things you can do to lessen your environmental impact while keeping your floors in tip-top shape:

• When the time comes time to replace your tools, consider swapping out your old mops for new ones made with wood and recycled rags. There are also many options available that are zero-waste so your carbon footprint is minimal when they get to the end of their lives.
• Upgrade your equipment to make the most of innovation. For example, orbital cleaners do not use any chemicals or water, so you don’t have to worry about water usage or chemical disposal. Using a mechanical action and a pad, these machines are very effective; some even remove one layer of polish in one pass.
• Limit your water use by sweeping, dry mopping, or vacuuming before you wet mop to save the amount of water it takes to get the floors clean. You can also switch to more efficient tools like dual-cavity mop buckets. As well, refine the use of your products by testing how much you actually need to get the job done and sticking to the minimum amount for standard maintenance.
• Look at traffic patterns to determine when cleaning is most beneficial. This will help you avoid having to repeat the process, multiplying your efforts and the products you are using.
• Beware of “greenwashing,” where companies make false or misleading claims about how their products affect the environment. For confirmation, look for ECOLOGO®, a Canadian certification given to products with verified reduced environmental impact. This lets you know that your cleaning products comply with standards set out in the certification and prioritize the environment with minimal health effects.
• Get all the information you need to create a strategy for your building. There are many third-party certifications that will help you gather all the information to arm yourself with the products and equipment you need.

As we continue to work towards minimizing our carbon footprint, create a plan for your floor care that can help you execute an overall sustainability strategy for your building.