Green cleaning involves a variety of techniques to reduce the use of toxic chemicals, potable water and disposable cleaning supplies while improving the indoor environmental quality. Green cleaning products are often Green Seal Certified, a certification program that rewards environmentally responsible products, in categories that include floor finishes and strippers, hand soaps and cleaners, institutional and industrial cleaners, disposable paper products and other categories.
Housekeeping at the medical center has been developing a Green Cleaning initiative for the Genome Data Sequencing Center, which is awaiting LEED certification. Throughout the medical center, Green Seal Certified products are purchased where applicable. Other recent advances include an auto-scrubber that converts water to act like detergent. Specifications for green cleaning in the Genome Data Sequencing Center can be expanded to other buildings and will be used in the BJC Institute of Health building when it opens.
On the Danforth Campus, ARAMARK is contracted for janitorial services, and they utilize their Green Threads program to inform sustainable product purchasing and usage. Many of the equipment used on the Danforth Campus, including vacuums, burnishers and autoscrubbers, are approved for LEED-EB. All cleaning products used on the Danforth Campus are Green Seal Certified with the exception of sanitizers. In addition, all mops are being changed to microfiber for both dry and wet use over 6 months, to be completed by October, with the exception of mops used for refinishing floors.