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by: R.MichaelRichmond
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The janitorial industry might be the last place you might think of nationwide innovation, but the janitorial business is in transition as the Green movement takes over. This is no longer an obscure industry of brooms, mops, and trash removal. Things are changing rapidly and the Green market has brought new value to every janitorial service that cleans our schools, homes, offices, and factories. The reason is that the janitorial service is the starting point of Green operation.

What will drive this movement is the demand for Green offices and Green buildings. One interesting example is the state of Florida that passed a ruling that withheld state business from any hotel that did not qualify as a Green hotel. The affect was immediate and profound as the state is a significant part of Florida hotel revenue.

Both New York and Illinois have passed similar versions of the Green School Act that required all schools to adopt Green products and Green practices in the daily cleaning of their facilities. New York has now issued notices that all building owners have a time frame in which they must take their buildings Green. Other states are sure follow New York and Illinois, and cities are passing a variety of mandates on local businesses.

Both Presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush signed executive orders requiring all government agencies to buy Green products and implement Green practices. EPA and OHSA are promoting Green issues nationwide. You only have to take a look at most city programs to see that they are already talking about Green business to see that it is only a matter of time until every business will be Green too. It is easy to see why knowledgeable people are already predicting that the Green program will take over every business sector in the next two to three years.

This new economy will bring what I call Green Pretenders who will take only token efforts to be Green but will declare that they are the real Green janitorial service. You see, Green does not come in a bottle but in the service that uses the Green product. When all janitorial services have a few Green products and some HEPA vacuums, we will see what I also call the "Green Equalization." This means that there will be plenty of look-alike Green firms, but not of them are qualified professionally.

Does a janitorial service need to go though training and certification from an outside source, or can they simple step into this arena as simply as reworking their website and advertising? As in any profession, there must be a standard in training and review that supports the claims of a professional service. Hey, even car mechanics are trained and certified. Shouldn't we expect that a firm in charge of the health and sanitation of the building do more than hand the work crew new products?

Green Clean Institute has one of the largest student bodies of any comparable program with over 500 students nationally, as well was several international students. Recently, Green Clean Institute - Canada" has been established to bring the same training and certification to the Canadian janitorial and cleaning firms. If your company plans to "Go Green," we suggest that you start at the most logical process in your building ... the cleaning service.

Unfortunately, many otherwise intelligent people mistaken use the word Green as a synonym for environmentalism. This is a mistake since Green is always a health-related topic. The LEED program adds to this confusion by including items like energy and water conservation, building materials, and access to public transportation into their version of the Green Building. Green Clean Institute believes that the Green Building should focus on indoor air quality and the health concerns of the people who live, shop, or work in the facility.

Like it or not, this is a world in serious transition from the standard practices of the past to the new and intelligent practices of a better today. People worldwide have chosen not to defer the duties of clean and healthy world to their children. Things change, and this is a change that is good for all of us. It leaves only a question of whether people will wait for the government to force them to Go Green, or whether they will step up to the challenge voluntarily.

About the Author

Lqualify for how to qualify for your Green Building status with Green Business League. Creating a Green Building need not be costly or complex when you use with our professional system.

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