by Claris Olson, HSC Environmental Health Manager
This week, Rochelle, Mark and I are in Las Vegas at the ISSA/INTERCLEAN trade show launching the second edition of The Quick and Easy Guide to Green Cleaning in Schools. And what a perfect venue it is. It was just three years ago right here in Vegas that a handful of innovative green cleaning companies made a small gamble on the concept of a simple guide to help schools across the nation transition to green cleaning. (Be sure to check out the new version of the guide -– you can order a free copy or access the complete guide online at www.GreenCleanSchools.org.)
What’s really fun for me is seeing the effect that we’ve had: people know about our work and are letting us know that we’re really helping change the marketplace.
When you walk around the floor here (it takes about 15 minutes to walk from one end to the other – it’s huge!) you know that the market is shifting because everything is going “green.” Our challenge is to make sure we sort out what is truly green and what is “green washing” and make sure schools know how to choose better products to truly clean for health.
Of course, we promote state policy to encourage green cleaning, and as we talk to people here at ISSA, there is a lot of interest in joining our efforts.
On Nov. 12, we are bringing together state advocates and national partners in Washington, D.C. for the Green Clean Schools National Summit to share best practices supporting green cleaning legislation in states across the country. This is an exciting time to be part of the green cleaning movement because things are moving so fast.
On another note, the National Collaborative Work Group on Green Cleaning and Chemical Policy Reform in Schools has also published a great new resource on green cleaning in schools. It’s a wealth of information on green cleaning with a ready to use presentation showing exactly how to green a cleaning program. A great addition to the work we’ve been doing. Click here to check it out.
Finally, I want to thank all our sponsors because they’ve been such a support for our efforts. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to provide resources to schools or do the educational outreach that makes such a difference… Thanks!
Great post. I joined the "green" movement earlier this month, and I finally decided to help make a difference. The more and more we all work together to share information, the better off we all will be. I've submitted my own thoughts on living green so if anyone would like to check it out, please do so and contribute!
http://greenie-weenie.blogspot.com
Posted by: Bozzie | December 19, 2008 at 03:37 PM