Are the cleaning chemicals we're using doing more harm than good?

Gavin Sambles, Global Product Director here at 2San features in this months issue of FMUK magazine

The business of being green is big. People care – or at the very least want their peers to think they care – about being more environmentally friendly. And this crosses into the world of business too. Governments are setting strict environmental targets which businesses will need to adhere to. What’s more, in 2022, a survey of over 510 c-suite and senior decision makers at the UK’s largest companies found that more than half of UK businesses have net-zero plans in place¹.

So, how does this impact the cleaning industry and facilities managers / facility management companies?

Many commercial cleaners still rely on products containing toxic chemicals, a proportion of which will go down the drains, into the sewer system, wastewater treatment facilities, and eventually into our rivers, lakes, and oceans causing significant harm. While the images of large-scale chemical spills grab headlines, there is also the daily barrage and constant flow of chemicals which needs to be addressed.

What’s more, research has found that regular use of harsh cleaning sprays has an impact on lung health comparable with smoking a pack of cigarettes daily2. This means not only are these chemicals harming our planet, they are also harming the people using them on a daily basis.

The seemingly natural step is to opt for more environmentally friendly cleaning products, or those made from natural ingredients. 

So what is stopping many businesses from making greener choices?

To begin with, the environmentally friendly cleaning landscape is not easy to navigate. In fact, when the 2San team recently exhibited at The Cleaning Show in London, one of the biggest takeaways was the immense variety of ‘green’ accreditations, a lot of which appear to have been self proclaimed, featured by different products. There is no clear industry standard making it near-impossible to compare like-for-like. How can businesses begin the process of choosing the right and best product for their needs? We need to make it simple for everyone to understand the benefits of moving to sustainable cleaning solutions.

Once the hurdle of credentials has been tackled, the next factor is cost. Across the spectrum, when a product becomes ‘green’ the cost often rises. For those running businesses and especially those pitching to win cleaning and facilities management contracts, switching to more environmentally friendly options could increase costs and raise the big question – do you absorb those costs or pass them onto the client, potentially impacting the success of winning a tender. Couple this with inflation, supporting employees through the cost-of-living crisis, and other increasing business expenses, environmental credentials may fall to the bottom of the priority list.

The final hurdle is scepticism. For many, there is a firm rooted belief that chemicals are simply better at cleaning and that greener solutions will not do the same job or be as effective. However, we know this isn’t the case. At 2San, our Clean Zero solution, for example, is proven to remove 99% of bacteria – the same claim made by many chemical-based solutions.

So what’s the solution

As an industry, we need to be proactively moving away from harsh chemicals which have been relied on for too long, instead developing solutions which are environmentally friendly, cost-effective, can be easily swapped into current cleaning processes.

At 2San, we think we have the solution with Clean Zero, our naturally derived, chemical-free and sustainable solution made from water. We re-engineer water through a unique, multi-stage filtration process to create a highly effective product – the performance evidenced by industry recognised Adenosine Tri-Phosphate (ATP) testing, recording continually good results. It can be used in the same way as standard cleaning consumables, and doesn’t alter existing processes.

What’s more, companies can purchase a ‘CleanZero Cabinet’ which can be installed in any location and which, from mains water, creates the Clean Zero product ready to be discharged into a spray bottle or other cleaning equipment, making it versatile, multi-functional and cost-effective. As Clean Zero is created on-site, the carbon footprint associated with continuous creation of new products, bottles, and shipping is also essentially removed.

While not every business can hit net-zero objectives overnight, by making easily achievable steps – such as swapping chemical-based cleaning products for a chemical free alternative – could make a big impact overall and be a positive step towards a greener future.

Sources
1: https://www.edie.net/more-than-half-of-uk-businesses-have-net-zero-plans-but-how-can-these-targets-be-reached/
2: American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Published 2018.