I will admit, some weeks are harder than others when it
comes to picking a topic for the blog.
This week I thought I had a slam dunk.
I knew the topic – something to do with “green”. I’ve given a number of presentations over the
years on looking at the various green certification bodies and how to
effectively choose cleaning or disinfectant products that are safer to the user
and the planet. I was going to introduce
you to the concept of Greenwashing…it
was going to be perfect. And then….and
then a flicker of a thought popped into my head and my memory (affectionately
referred to as “The Vault” by my team) threw up flairs and I realized “crud, I
think I’ve already done that”. The vault
was right. Back in May 2014 I wrote a
blog titled “Sustainability
through Green Killing”. So much for
this week’s topic!
The reason for the need to focus on the topic of “green” is
that last week we launched our April education campaign. As we stated in the introduction for our Going Green campaign “We
all care about our planet and want to do our part to protect the environment.” Through our education campaign we have tried
to gather together in a single location what we think are some great resources
that will help to dispel the myths of “Green Cleaning and Disinfection” and
help you make informed decisions about the chemicals you use day in and day
out. We timed the launch of our Going
Green campaign with Earth Day. Now in
its 46th year, the intent of Earth
Day was to launch a movement to give a voice to an emerging consciousness
and channeling human energy toward environmental issues.
Being considerate about the products we choose is
important. We are vastly aware of the
dangers of emerging pathogens like Ebola, the yearly fear of influenza and the
concerns with antibiotic resistance.
Advertisers and media outlets prey on fear since it sells. The truth is that disinfectant manufacturers
also capitalize on consumer fears by producing more and more products with
claims to kill everything under the sun.
It is a vicious cycle.
Disinfectant chemicals are everywhere and have both positive
and negative attributes. The positive
are that they all have the ability to kill pathogens. Conversely, many have adverse impacts
including irritation, hormone disruption, damage to our immune systems, and of
course damage to our environment (air, water and soil). However, all is not lost as there are now
Green certification bodies such as EcoLogo
or the EPA’s
Design for the Environment (DfE) program that provide credible guidance
that manufactures can use to help develop disinfectants that are safer and
gentler to the environment and that consumers can feel confident in believing
to help guide them in their choice of products.
If you are looking to “Go Green" with your killing
agents, be sure to weed through the quagmire of greenwashing using the 7 Sins
of Greenwashing discussed in my May 2014 blog as your benchmark or better yet,
decide to use only those products that carry third party certification!
We hope you’ll find our Going Green campaign
educational!
Bugging Off!
Nicole
