Investing in our Schools

January 17, 2012 in Carpet Care with 0 Comments

Whatever your political persuasion, the Obama Administration’s recently proposed American Jobs Act contains a component worthy of consideration.

The $447 billion spending bill contains a provision to provide $25 billion to specifically upgrade the infrastructure of our K-12 schools. Make note this is not funding that will be used for teacher salaries. There is a different provision for that. After years of sinking maintenance budgets and deferring critical maintenance and repairs, the infrastructure provision seems to make sense.

Whether the politically charged environment will lead to passing of the American Jobs Act remains to be seen. The debate will most likely center around whether spending massive amounts of government money will kick start the economy and reduce unemployment. Both political parties understand the public is demanding that something be done.

Spending that targets upgrading and repairing the infrastructure of our schools is a sound investment. Our future quality of life and competitiveness in the world depends on educating our youth. To quote former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan:

“Knowledge is Power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.”

Read the Fact Sheet / Press Release from the Administration http://www.aasa.org/uploadedFiles/WH-on-School-Construction.pdf

According to the fact sheet, “the funds can be used for a range of emergency repair and renovation projects, greening and energy efficiency upgrades, asbestos abatement and removal, and modernization efforts to build new science and computer labs and to upgrade the technology infrastructure in our schools.

One thing that everyone in the cleaning industry is painfully aware of is that cleaning and maintenance budgets continue to shrink. Although we work hard to help reduce costs through more efficient processes and tools, productivity gains have not offset the loss of manpower. The result, schools in disrepair that are dirtier and less healthy for students, teachers, employees and visitors. Not good!

At Multi-Clean, we continue to advocate and provide resources that help our distributors support their school customers to implement green cleaning.  We also continue to work hard on dispelling the myth that green cleaning will cost more.  Implemented properly and focusing on the process can actually improve cleanliness without costing more.  In fact, in many cases, the resulting efficiencies can cost less.  We are proud to be a sponors of the Healthy Schools Campaign QUICK AND EASY GUIDE TO GREEN CLEANING and will be launching our own GREEN CLEANING ADVISOR SCHOOLS EDITION in October.

Multi-Clean is a Proud Sponosor



Green Cleaning Advisor is a training and education program for Multi-Clean authorized distributors sales reps to educate and provide the resource tools to assist their customers in the implementation and ongoing management of a green cleaning program.
 
Click here for a sneak preview of the program

 

Back to School Time

January 17, 2012 in Cleaning Chemicals with 0 Comments

As we prepare to re-open the doors to our public and private schools, it’s time to start thinking about how, as cleaning professionals, we can offer guidance on cleaning facilities more effectively and efficiently, while making the school healthier for students and teachers.
 
This returns us back to the idea of Consultative Selling. Becoming an expert on green cleaning and putting this expertise to use with your school customers can be rewarding.  The other thing to keep in mind, is that the benefits of green cleaning that relate to student health, learning, and absenteeism resonate with school administrators. So, if the opportunity presents itself, use your knowledge to educate (not sell) other key 'influencers' such as principles, superintendents, school board members, etc.
 
Here are some nuggets of information to keep in mind:
  • Green Cleaning is a process, not simply the use of green products.
  • Green Cleaning should not cost more, the process can actually save money.
  • The LEED standard for Existing Buildings includes a pre-requisite that a GREEN CLEANING POLICY be in place and offers 6 points/credits for implementing green cleaning.  Out of those six points, 2 points are related to purchase of green products, the other 4 point are related to the process. 
To understand the process of Green Cleaning, read YOUR EASY GUIDE TO GREEN , a 6 step guide on the process of going green.
An audit of existing cleaning products and practices can be an excellent Consultative Selling Tool.  A  specific Green Cleaning Audit for schools is built around these 4-Action Pillars:
  1. Pollution Prevention: In this category, source waste reduction, recycle and re-use programs are assessed. The goal is to create measurable reductions in waste and emissions.
  2. Indoor Air Quality: Programs that address IAQ are important for the health of all building occupants. A specific emphasis for this section is to reduce asthma triggers through the use of alternative cleaning products, equipment, tools and processes.
  3. Health and Wellness: Here we are looking for ways to reduce absenteeism, reduce the spread of illness / disease through education and specific cleaning methods.
  4. Facility Maintenance: Green Cleaning is a process that clearly focus’ on prevention strategies. In this section, we look at the cleaning products and processes currently in place and start the processes of building a High Performance Cleaning Program.
A typical green cleaning audit depicts the current efforts being made to provide the occupants of the building with a healthy environment. It is important to conduct this audit because it creates an awareness and accountability to those responsible for that environment.
 
The audit will benefit the school because no matter how good the current efforts are, there is always room for improvement.

 
Multi-Clean will be introducing the GREEN CLEANING ADVISOR SCHOOLS EDITION in October during the ISSA Show. This training and certification program is specific for Multi-Clean Authorized Distributors to make the transformation from sales person to sales consultant.
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