By Mark Bishop, Deputy Director
We were excited to learn that in January, the state of Missouri joined states around the nation in encouraging green cleaning in schools by releasing specific green cleaning guidelines for schools.
HSC is proud to have played a role in creating the Missouri legislation that called for the state to create guidelines. And we'd like to thank one of our sponsors, Magic Touch Cleaning, who initiated the efforts to promote green cleaning legislation in Missouri.
As I review the Missouri guidelines, I see that Missouri leaders based their work closely on the efforts that HSC and our allies made to develop guidelines for the state of Illinois when a law was passed requiring green cleaning in all Illinois schools.
The Missouri and Illinois guidelines are very similar, with the bulk of the recommendations including existing third-party programs such as Green Seal, EcoLogo and Design for the Environment. Changes that the Missouri task force did make are reflected in the way they treat powered cleaning equipment -- these changes were made to reflect a marketplace where more energy- and water-efficient equipment is being introduced.
And of course, the biggest difference is that the Missouri guidelines are recommendations rather than requirements.
Congratulations, Missouri. We hope that the Show Me state can show the other 46 states out there how green cleaning can be done.
If you want to learn more about green cleaning, check out HSC's Green Clean Schools web site, where you can also find our free guide, The Quick & Easy Guide to Green Cleaning in Schools.
Comments