Vacuum/Floor Cleaners:

• DustBuster

Invented by Mark Proett in 1979 for Black & Decker, the “dustbuster” has become a genericized trademark for handheld vacuum cleaners.  Perfect for sucking up hard to reach cereal bits in car seats.

• Swiffer: Dry, Wet, Vacuum

Possibly one of the greatest floor cleaning inventions of all time, Swiffer now does just about everything; it sweeps, mops and vacuums.  There is just something so satisfying in seeing dirt and grime and spills get demolished by Swiffer cloths.

• Toy Dozer

A fun and quick way for kids to clean up their toys.  Resorting might be required.

Surface Cleaners:

• Fantastik/409/Vinegar

All-purpose cleaners are essential to have around.  If you run out of store-bought cleaner, try just using a vinegar and water solution.  It may smell kind of bad, but it does the trick.

• Lysol/Clorox Wipes

Have you run out of paper towels, or think they’re a drain on the environment?  Using wipes cuts down on the number of steps in the cleaning process.

• Windex

It is inconclusive if Windex really is a cure-all, a la the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but it does do a wonderful job on glass.

• Pledge

For your wood pieces, nothing is better than good ol’ Pledge.  Especially the lemon scented kind.  Mmmmm, lemons.

• Bar Keeper’s Friend

This is a new one to me, but apparently it’s good for kitchen, bathroom and garage uses.  No need to get more than

one product to clean those countertops and golf clubs.

• Mr. Clean’s Magic Eraser

It’s magic!  Well, it seems like it is, anyway.  This little scrubber really gets the grime, and there’s no extra spray needed.

• WD-40

Who knew that WD-40 gets crayon off walls?  Only a mother would figure that out.  Or need to figure that out.

Dishes:

• Steel Wool

Can anything really compete with steel wool for those hard to clean pots and pans?

• Dapple Dish Detergent

Created by 2 women who wanted a safer cleaner for baby dishes and toys (or things that go into a child’s mouth most often), Dapple products natural-based ingredients that are environmentally safe and free of synthetic dyes and fragrances.

Laundry:

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Companies across the globe mark the day with special programs and events to honor our planet and raise environmental awareness.  Philips announced today that they will be offering its most technologically advanced LED bulb to consumers for the first time this Earth Day.  It is the most energy efficient bulb in the world.

“Because the new bulb is 83% more energy efficient than the standard 60-Watt incandescent, consumers can now experience new savings for their pocketbooks by putting this technologically advanced product to use in their homes,” said Ed Crawford, GM of Lamps, Lighting Electronics and Controls for Philips Lighting North America.

Wegmans, rated the country’s leading supermarket chain by Consumer Reports, will be holding an Organic Festival with fun activities for the family including mazes, temporary tattoos and organic planting.  If you bring plastic bags to a Wegmans store on Saturday, April 21 between 11 AM and 3 PM you will receive a coupon for one free Wegmans reusable bag.

Since the introduction of their reusable bags in 2007, Wegmans has reduced its plastic bag use by approximately 4,000 bags.  Over the last year or so, Wegmans has developed a plastic bag for their customers that is comprised of 40% of recycled bags those same customers have returned to the store.  And in honor of Earth Day, the store will be showing their first annual Recycling Report Card at the Organic Festival.  Highlights include:

• Wegmans donated 16 million pounds of food to local food banks and pantries and composted 2.3 million pounds of food waste, keeping the equivalent of 215 tractor-trailer loads of food out of landfills.
• 107 million pounds of cardboard and office paper were recycled, saving 598,000 trees.
• 3 million pounds of plastic bags and wrapping were recycled during 2011 – saving the equivalent energy use of 381 homes for one year.

There are so many ways you can join in the festivities this year.  Nothing is too little or too late.  Try to:

• Use environmentally friendly cleaning products to avoid poisonous toxins for both you and the earth.
• Use less water to help conserve the global supply (and reduce costs to your household).
• Recycle, recycle, recycle.  This goes for everything from plastic bottles and bags to aluminum cans to old electronic devices.

What else can you think of to celebrate Earth Day?

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There are easy ways to go green at work:

-Use green cleaning products. Green cleaning products are environmentally safe and save you from harmful toxins used in standard cleaning products. Green products won’t aggravate asthma or other allergies. There are green cleaning products for various different surfaces including carpets, hard floors and desktops. Spoterizer-Non Toxic Carpet Stain Removal and Extract Attack-Carpet Extractor are two examples of green carpet cleaners.

Spoterizer-Non Toxic Carpet Stain Removal

-Have a recycling bin next to the garbage can. This way, when cleaning up your office, you can easily toss paper and other recyclable items into the bin and help save the earth. If your office doesn’t have one already, see about starting a recycling program for everyone. Get in touch with your local sanitation department to see how you can do this.

-When you start using green products, consider using plant based products and cleaners in recyclable containers. Safe Care All-Purpose Cleaner and optionsforlife cleaning products are both natural cleaning products that are safe for you and the planet.

-Use less Styrofoam. Everyone has at least one cup of coffee a day at work; chances are the cups that are provided for your use are Styrofoam. If possible, drink out of reusable mugs or from biodegradable cups. Styrofoam does not break down easily and is bad for the environment.

-In your office bathroom, instead of using paper towels, see if you can get air hand dryers. Not only are they more sanitary, but they create less cleanup and are more efficient.

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Green cleaning is important for one’s health and the environment, but before buying environmentally friendly cleaning products it’s important to know that the green cleaning products one will use actually work and are really environmentally friendly and not just advertising that they are.  The following are criteria I recommend using to know which products are really green and which products actually clean:

Ingredients:

It’s important when looking for green cleaning supplies to find environmentally friendly cleaning solutions that contain as few ingredients as possible. And also with as few ingredients that sound like they are scientific names and unpronounceable chemicals in them as possible. The more natural the ingredients are (as opposed to synthetically created ingredients) the better.

Green cleaning products don’t have to list what ingredients are in their products since listing them would give away their “secret formula.” Though green cleaning products don’t have to mention the ingredients they contain, there are green cleaning products which do. It’s best to only use green cleaning products that list the ingredients they use; this is because if you know what are in the products, you can find out if the cleaning solutions are actually green and can actually clean. Also, if a cleaning manufacturer cares about providing environmentally friendly products (as opposed to selling green cleaning because they are popular with consumers) than they wouldn’t feel the need to have a “secret formula” but would want their consumers to know that the products they are buying are actually green. After all, if a cleaning product is hiding what the product contains there is probably a reason why. It’s important to be a little skeptical when looking for green cleaning supplies.

When looking at the ingredients of green cleaning products it’s important to make sure that the products have materials that don’t hurt the ozone, to make sure the ingredients are biodegradable, contain no bleach, no phosphates, no (or at least very low) VOCs (volatile organic compounds), no substances that come from petroleum, but use renewable resources instead, no added dyes (except for safety reasons). It’s also important to make sure that the products don’t have any added fragrances (just because a product smell clean doesn’t mean it is. Added scents are put into products to portray added cleanliness, but in reality, a clean scent doesn’t make something cleaner than something that lacks a clean smell).

Packaging:

Though a clean smell doesn’t mean something is clean, in the case of green cleaning it’s important to judge a book by its cover. It’s important to make sure that the packaging of the product is recyclable. After all, if a product really cares about the environment wouldn’t they want to make the product come in a recyclable packaging?

Another thing to look for is if the cleaning product comes in a concentrated formula where you add water and does the package have instructions for how much water to add? Also, does the product come with refillable bottles and if so does the package mention how to buy refills?

Other Important Things to Look For:

Price-It’s best to check out similar green cleaning products and if a product costs more than other similar products, it’s best to find out why. Why pay for than you need to? If a product seems to be expensive, it’s best to know that it’s worth it before hand and to see if the product is integral or if it can be replaced with another similar cleaning solution.

Performance-It’s important to make sure that what you are buying works. Why go on a blind purchase (unless you are sure that the product you’re getting is environmentally friendly and cleans well). It’s important to Google the product and check out reviews to hear what other people have to say before one buys the product.

Another important factor is to make sure that the product wasn’t test on animals; many green cleaning products follow this rule and don’t test their product on animals.

If you are interested in hiring a professional cleaning company that offers green cleaning, make sure the green cleaning products they use are really environmentally friendly and work. Look at the ingredients, check the packaging to make sure the packaging the product uses is recyclable.

Now that you know what to look for when hiring a professional green cleaning company and green cleaning products, the staff at Four Star General Cleaning would like to wish you must luck in being happy with the green cleaning products you buy. We hope the green cleaning products do as good a job

(if not better) at cleaning. Good Luck!

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Cleaning windows can be dangerous no matter how many floors the building has. Having workers standing outside of the building on a platform is not very face, but it used to be the only way possible to clean windows—that is the only way until now.

Thanks to Sky Pro, cleaning building windows doesn’t have to be dangerous anymore. Sky Pro created Sky Pro Automated Window Cleaning System, which is a safe, cheap, and fast way to clean windows of high-rise buildings. This is done by cleaning the windows at a rate of 35 feet per minute and can clean up to 34,000 square feet an hour. (http://www.totalclean.co.uk/blog/revolutionary-automated-window-cleaning-system/). This is about a day’s work on window cleaning in just a little over one hour (and it’s safe too!).

Sky Pro comes in various sizes, such as 6’, 8’, 12’, 16’, or the size can be customized to meet any building cleaning requirement. Sky Pro cleans building exteriors, such as window frames and decorative cladding. Sky Pro uses brushes and high pressure water systems which can clean about any surface.

Sky Pro is good for the environment since it doesn’t use any toxic chemicals to clean, only filtered water.

According to the Total Clean website:

“Sky Pro has an optional dual fan package designed to push the brushes against the building to improve scrubbing pressure to remove more dirt and grime. The fan package can eliminate the need for the counterweight arm on the Sky Pro System. The fan package is recommended for use on buildings over 30 stories tall, in windy areas, or on buildings subject to unexpected wind gusts. It’s designed so the Sky Pro System “hugs” the building, allowing the brushes to clean better.” (http://www.totalclean.co.uk/blog/revolutionary-automated-window-cleaning-system/).

Thanks to Sky Pro it seems as if window cleaners don’t have to worry about their safety. Since Sky Pro is both safe and very fast at cleaning windows, it is worth looking into for those who own a cleaning company. Sky Pro not only allows one to clean more windows in a day, it also only takes two people to operate, thus reducing the number of workers one needs to hire to clean the windows. (Sky Pro also offers a one year satisfaction guarantee.)

Thanks to Sky Pro’s technological breakthrough, it is now safe and easy to clean windows outside high-rise buildings.

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What the majority of the survey shows is that besides for teachers having to spend their day teacher, they are also responsible for cleaning up their classroom.  The added work of cleaning up their classroom leads to teachers giving out less work if it results in less cleaning. As a result of this, Bounty (part of Procter & Gamble) along with PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) Today created “We Love Our School” week, where parents and volunteers help schools clean their classroom. One such volunteer is actress, Julianne Moore.

1,000 schools and 2,500 classrooms are taking part in “We Love Our School” week. Each of the participating schools with receive enough Bounty and Mr. Clean products to clean all of their classrooms.

Dave Lee, Procter & Gamble North American Bounty delivery brand manager said, ”It’s surprising to learn that more than half of teachers surveyed acknowledged that the need to clean their classroom interferes with teaching. Through this program, we aim to help provide clean learning environments that allow students to learn uninhibited by messes.” (http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bounty-survey-finds-94-of-teachers-say-students-learn-better-in-a-clean-classroom—leading-to-nationwide-effort-to-help-clean-up-schools-116217404.html).

What the “We Love Our School Week” shows is how having workers who have to spend part of their day cleaning end up getting less work done. There is no reason that cleaning should interfere with a person’s job. The “We Love Our School Week” shows how cleaning effects work performance. Teachers aren’t the only ones who have to make time for cleaning up their work room. Teachers aren’t the only ones whose work productivity lessons when they have the extra job of cleaning to do. Other workers are affected as well.

While the “We Love Our School Week” is effective in lessoning the cleaning load for teachers, it only lasts a week. What happens after that? This is exactly why hiring cleaning companies are so important. They can do their work so you can do yours.

Procter & Gamble surveyed 1,000 U.S. school teachers showed that 94% of teachers believe that students learn better in a clean classroom. The survey also found that 42% of the teachers clean their own classroom. 51% of teachers admitted to not giving out certain work in class for fear of having to clean up the mess made as a result of said work and group projects.

What the majority of the survey shows is that besides for teachers having to spend their day teacher, they are also responsible for cleaning up their classroom.  The added work of cleaning up their classroom leads to teachers giving out less work if it results in less cleaning. As a result of this, Bounty (part of Procter & Gamble) along with PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) Today created “We Love Our School” week, where parents and volunteers help schools clean their classroom. One such volunteer is actress, Julianne Moore.

1,000 schools and 2,500 classrooms are taking part in “We Love Our School” week. Each of the participating schools with receive enough Bounty and Mr. Clean products to clean all of their classrooms.

Dave Lee, Procter & Gamble North American Bounty delivery brand manager said, ”It’s surprising to learn that more than half of teachers surveyed acknowledged that the need to clean their classroom interferes with teaching. Through this program, we aim to help provide clean learning environments that allow students to learn uninhibited by messes.” (http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bounty-survey-finds-94-of-teachers-say-students-learn-better-in-a-clean-classroom—leading-to-nationwide-effort-to-help-clean-up-schools-116217404.html).

What the “We Love Our School Week” shows is how having workers who have to spend part of their day cleaning end up getting less work done. There is no reason that cleaning should interfere with a person’s job. The “We Love Our School Week” shows how cleaning effects work performance. Teachers aren’t the only ones who have to make time for cleaning up their work room. Teachers aren’t the only ones whose work productivity lessons when they have the extra job of cleaning to do. Other workers are affected as well.

While the “We Love Our School Week” is effective in lessoning the cleaning load for teachers, it only lasts a week. What happens after that? This is exactly why hiring cleaning companies are so important. They can do their work so you can do yours.

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So how does one effectively defeat the infestation of bed bugs without having to use toxic chemicals harmful to humans and/or spending thousands of dollars? Fortunately, there is an answer. A new cleaning machine, known as the “Ladybug Steam Cleaner” (a twofold joke—1) a machine called the ladybug which removes bugs and 2) looks like a lady bug—okay the joke isn’t really that funny I guess, or it’s not know since I ruined it by explaining it).

Vapor steam cleaners are usually used to clean surfaces without chemicals, and cleaning professionals have found out that vapor steam cleaners can also be used to get rid of bed bugs.

The “Ladybug” is a type of vapor steam cleaner, which “convert[s] ordinary tap water to high-temperature dry vapor steam between 245°F and 260°F.” (http://www.onlineprnews.com/news/112218-1299076446-green-cleaning-vapor-steam-cleaners-control-bed-bugs-naturally-announces-1800govaporcom.html). Bed bugs are killed when exposed to temperatures of 113°F.

Since vapor steam particles are so small, they can enter those cracks in the walls and floors (where bed bugs are located) which chemicals aren’t able to penetrate.

Since Ladybug steam cleaners kill the bed bugs and their eggs right away (unlike toxic chemicals), the Ladybug steam cleaner is the most effective, cheapest, safest, bed bug killer currently on the market. With the Ladybug steam cleaner, you can have a good night without letting the bed bugs bite.

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Since the documentary, An Inconvenient Truth came out in 2006, “being green” has become all the rage. There are many companies and people who now try to go green. One wonders why this sudden change occurs. There have been many documentaries made about social problems where no change in human behavior occurred; so why this sudden shift to “go green” (aka the more objective alternative to “environmentally friendly”)? I don’t know the answer to this question, but it is an interesting phenomenon.

There has been some criticism pointed at Al Gore (I happily admit to be one of those people) for his hypocrisy. Al Gore flies all around the world in his private energy consuming airplane telling people to conserve energy. The typical response I’ve heard in regard to this is: “Yes, Al Gore is seemingly a hypocrite but look at the bigger picture. He is using a lot of energy flying around the world but he is doing it to spread the word about global warming and this message wouldn’t be able to reach as many people if Al Gore didn’t fly his plane to countries talking to them about global warming and human’s responsibility to the environment. Al Gore is ONE man wasting energy to inspire many to save energy, so it’s a fair trade off.” This is a well thought out response and when someone told this response to my friend, he retorted: “So if I rob a millionaire’s home and give all the money to charity, does this justify my theft? After all, I’m only ONE person stealing from ONE person but am helping many more.”

These debates and controversies are interesting and the facts behind global warming are debatable, so which side is right? I’m not sure and I’m not here to judge. The most important thing isn’t what a person says but what they do, which is why I agree with my friend. There are many businesses which are now using green cleaning products over items which increase energy and cause waste. But what is the motive for these businesses? Do they want the green for themselves or for the environment? Is going green a marketing strategy or is it coming from a place of real care and concern for the earth?

Many companies say they practice environmentally responsible cleaning but the fact is they don’t. Many carpet cleaning company’s purchase green cleaning products just so they can increase revenue by attracting customers who are only interested in doing business with cleaning companies that only use environmentally safe products and conserve energy.

There have been reports that have showed that the very cleaning companies that use green cleaning products aren’t consistent in their concern for conserving energy. One example are some green cleaning companies, while stopping off to go cleaning, left their car engine running, using excess gasoline which releases toxins in the air. Such cleaning companies might seem environmentally concerned by using green cleaning supplies only, but their actions dictate otherwise.

There are cleaning companies who do practice what they preach, but not all of them. People should be skeptical and not just assume that using “green cleaning” products means the company cares about the environment. There are cleaning companies who are sincere in using green cleaning supplies and one should try to find out who those companies are in order to support those companies who are sincere and are consistent in their actions. Good luck!

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The Green Office May Lead the Way to Higher Worker Productivity

Green buildings increase productivity
By MONICA UNHOLD, The Daily Transcript
Wednesday, September 23, 2009

SAN DIEGO, CA – Employees working in green buildings phone in sick to work less frequently and are more productive than their counterparts who work in non-green buildings, according to a recent study by University of San Diego’s Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate and commercial real estate firm CB Richard Ellis.

The study compared LEED-certified or Energy Star approved building against those not certified as “green.”

Productivity increased in part because there were fewer employee sick days in the green as compared to the non-green buildings.

One More Reason to Go With Green Office Cleaning?

The study cited indoor air quality, natural light and ventilation as factors in increased employee productivity. “People like natural light, they like clean air,” said Norm Miller, academic director for USD’s Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate who participated in the study.

Psychologist have known for long time that the quality of light and air can have a big affective on a person’s mental and physical health.

While the study didn’t look at the effect of green office cleaning technologies and products on worker productivity, the study strongly suggests that a clean and environmentally friendly work environment could have an impact on a business’s bottom line.

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Making Office Cleaning Both Safe and Green

Today’s “green consciousness” is driving business and institutions to become more environmentally sustainable. One of the easiest ways to do this has been for organizations to retool how they handle office cleaning. A leader in this area turns out to be Yale University’s Office of Sustainability.

In 2006, Yale’s Custodial Services and the Office of Sustainability formed a committee to review and improve the human and environmental health impact of Yale’s cleaning products and processes. The goal was to evaluate indoor cleaning products in terms of impact on indoor air quality. Equally important was the effect of using the products on the custodians who use these substances on a regular basis. Finally, the products were also evaluated in terms of their effectiveness in cleaning. After a year of review, Yale University came up with the following recommendations:

First Year Review of Yale’s Green Office Cleaning Committee

The committee tested six products that were identified as safe alternatives. The majority of these products are certified by Green Seal, a non-profit organization that uses a life cycle approach to evaluate the human and environmental impact of a product. It awards environmentally responsible products with its eco-label.
At the end of their review, the Yale Office of Sustainability found that the products drew overwhelming positive reviews from custodial staff who raved about the lack of irritations and nauseous fumes as well as the effectiveness of these new eco-friendly products:

• Bay West paper towels and toilet paper:  Green Seal-certified paper products made from 100% recycled material.
• Johnson Diversey Crew 44:  Green Seal-certified bathroom cleaner and scale remover.
• Aquaria finish and Freedom stripper:  Green Seal-certified floor products that is zinc-free. The finish appeared to be holding up well, but tests continue to see how well it handles salt.
• Glance Glass Cleaner:  Green Seal-certified product that is non-ammoniated.
• Alpha HP Multi-Surface Cleaner:  Green Seal-certified product that uses hydrogen peroxide.
• Johnson Diversey PACE Mop:  A flat-head mop system with a micro-fiber cloth that can be washed up to 500 times, and a small spray bottle (in lieu of a bucket of water). This mop system is faster, uses much less water, and is more ergonomically-friendly for the custodial staff. Moreover, the mop design allows it to sweep the floor and to clean hard to reach spots, such as behind toilets.

(Source: Green Cleaning at Yale, Yale’s Green Office Cleaning Committee and Office of Sustainability).

Four Star Green Cleaning

Four Star has a long commitment in using environmentally safe green cleaning products.

1. Four Star utilizes only environmentally sound cleaning and maintenance programs.
2. Four Star promotes water and energy conservation in its choice of cleaning equipment and systems.
3. Four Star reduces waste and consumption of finite resources and promotes and participates in recycling programs.
4. Four Star continues to be an advocate for greener, healthier, and more sustainable cleaning.

For your green office cleaning needs, call us: 212-741-9400, or use our contact then for a Free Estimate.

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