Great news! Green Seal has announced that it is working on a green standard for house cleaning services, to be titled GS-49. Green Seal is a widely recognized independent organization which certifies various products to be safer for human health and the environment than traditional products used for the same purpose, yet equally effective. Green Seal has established a standard for household cleaning products however as yet there is no standard for house cleaning services.
Maid Brigade established our Green Clean Certified(TM) standard in advance of a substantive third party standard such as the imminent GS-49. When we converted our entire franchised system of house cleaning service providers to Green Clean Certified service, we patterned our standard as closely as possible to Green Seal’s published standard for commercial cleaning companies. Our standard includes using Green Seal certified house cleaning solutions, closed-canister multi-level filtration vacuums that meet the Carpet & Rug Institute’s Green Label Program, and re-useable microfiber cloths which are color-coded to prevent cross-contamination from room to room. Each Maid Brigade maid is certified according to our standard as soon as we hire them and each adheres to our green cleaning standards in every home they clean.
Green Seal’s development of a formal standard for house cleaning services is great for the maid service industry. We’ve noticed lately that more cleaning services say they clean green when in fact they have only changed the chemicals they use. But cleaning chemicals may still be harmful to your health even if they are non-toxic.
Green Seal’s standard for house cleaning companies will help to eliminate alot of confusion among consumers that are looking for a healthier way to have a clean home but don’t have time to research what is truly green. Green Seal’s standard for house cleaning and maid services will help elevate green cleaning and separate those that are just capitalizing on the momentum for green living without making a commitment to TRULY clean green.
And speaking of making a commitment to TRUE green house cleaning, Maid Brigade is the only maid services company that has been approached by Green Seal to actually help them write their standard for house cleaning services. Maid Brigade senior leadership, myself include, has been a part of the process every step of the way, including multiple phone conferences, emails and comments posted in a private intranet site. It is a real accolade to be recognized by Green Seal for the thorough approach we’ve taken in terms of writing our own standard, certifying every maid in every Maid Brigade housecleaning office, and educating the public through www.greencleancertified.com and other consumer advocacy initiatives.
It is a real honor to be invited to participate in the development of this important standard. Maid Brigade continues to demonstrate our market leadership when it comes to green cleaning because….it’s about the customer. Every time.
