Initiative Greens Cleaning Industry Through Carbon Offsets
Reducing the emissions caused by the industrial and institutional cleaning industry is the goal of a partnership between the Green Cleaning Network and the Leonardo Academy, announced at the 2007 U.S. Green Building Council's Greenbuild.
Reducing the emissions caused by the industrial and institutional cleaning industry is the goal of a partnership between the Green Cleaning Network and the Leonardo Academy, announced at the 2007 U.S. Green Building Council’s Greenbuild.
The
Cleaning Industry Climate Initiative is a part of the
Cleaner and Greener Program, which helps companies calculate, reduce, and offset the emissions related to their organization’s operational activities. Especially geared at janitorial product distributors and facility service providers, the program has varied levels of participation.
After providing energy use information from sources such as natural gas usage in warehouses or delivery truck fuel usage, companies receive a carbon emission foot print calculation. They then choose which level off offset they would like to purchase, from 50 percent for a green rating to 300 percent for a platinum rating. The range of offsets includes Green-E Certified Renewable Energy Credits.
In addition companies may chose to certify their emission and offset achievements.
While the cleaning industry isn’t the primary contributor to climate change, Stephen Ashkin, executive director of the Green Cleaning Network, says everyone has to do their part.
"Climate change is going to be one of the most important issues of our time," says Ashkin. "Because we are such a huge industry comprised of over 70,000 companies, hundreds of thousands of vehicles and employing approximately four million people we have to do our part and we can make an important contribution to the solution."
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