Green Cleaning

To us, green cleaning is not only about the chemicals we use, but how we’re using them. We believe cleaning responsibly means caring for both the environment and our community.

Here are some of the ways we do that.

 

Chemicals:

Using safe products isn’t as simple as just going “organic” or “natural”. After all, there are a lot of naturally-occurring poisons out in our environment – and just because something is a chemical or manufactured, doesn’t mean it’s dangerous to us or the environment.

The key is understanding what to use where, and how to use it safely.

Our most common chemical for cleaning and window cleaning is a detergent created by Ecochem, a local Christchurch cleaning product manufacturer. It is non-toxic and safe on skin, and would be quite safe to wash your dishes in. However, care needs to be taken in how we dispose of it. Although a small amount won’t hurt, large amounts of detergent could damage our rivers and waterways – so we will never empty a bucket in your garden or down a drain, and are careful to mop up any spills.

However some chemicals we use, like our commercial oven cleaner, are very toxic. If we need to use something which may be potentially dangerous to the environment or to our staff, we do everything we can to understand the risks and mitigate them. That means ensuring that any residue of the chemical is completely removed or neutralised, that our staff have the right equipment and protective gear to work safely, and that information about the chemical and any risks involved are communicated to the client and anyone else who may be in contact with it.

For every chemical we use, we carry data sheets with information about the ingredients and any risks involved. We’re happy to discuss these with our clients before starting a job, and can use specific chemicals on request – or even no chemicals at all.

 

Water-only cleaning:

The classic window cleaning technique is to wash a window with a bit of detergent, squeegee the water off, wipe the frame dry, and catch any drips or residue with a cloth.

With a standard window this works well. But if you’re working on a multi-storey building or a big pane of glass, catching that run-off suddenly becomes a lot harder.

That’s where technology comes in.

We use the latest water purifying technology for big jobs where run-off is a risk. It filters the water we use, removing minerals and salts – which means no detergent or chemicals need to be added. When using purified water, we don’t need to dry the window, as the water won’t leave any stain. We don’t need to worry about any run-off either, as there are no additives that could harm our eco-systems or waterways.

 

Caring for our community:

We believe one of the most important aspects of being a responsible, sustainable business is taking care of people: Our staff, our customers and the wider community.

Some people view cleaning as a low skilled, low value industry – but that’s not how we see it. Our staff are experts at what they do, and their years of experience and training mean they know the right equipment and techniques to use for a job, are incredibly quick in their work, and can spot any potential issues before they occur and communicate with our customers to solve them. They don’t need someone standing over them to keep them from cutting corners or sweeping dirt under the rug – because they care as much about providing a fantastic service as we do.

We don’t hire just anyone, we look for people who understand the importance of quality workmanship and of great service. And when we find those people, we value them.

That means paying our staff well, and not using unfair or zero-hours contracts.  It means supporting our staff to learn and grow, not only at work, but in their personal lives as well.

That’s one reason why most of our staff have worked with us for years.  

Caring for our customers means going the extra mile for them – and it means taking responsibility if there’s a problem, or if we make a mistake. We guarantee all our work, and will be there to fix problems, even if it costs us. That’s because our goal is to take care of people, and not only to provide a great service today, but to build a strong relationship for the future.

It also means being honest. If we don’t think a service would be right for you, or if we think you can get better value elsewhere, we’ll let you know. We’re happy to provide our advice, even if there’s nothing in it for us.

And when we see great causes and people helping others in the community, we get behind them. We’ve supported, donated to, and volunteered our services for good causes, and we’ll continue to do that.