Sustainable, green or eco friendly cleaning is, IMO, more about minimising the impact of our commercial activities on the environment rather than negating them, so yes Jim it is about marketing, but certainly not a gimmick in my case.
We all have to market in one way or another and I suppose people would be quite justified in saying that I was putting "spin" into my marketing. A good example:
Doug has invested in Truckmount technology and runs his machine with more eco friendly LPG. That's positive marketing or, if you like, spin. But there's a massive carbon footprint etc. from the manufacture and running of the machine. I, on the other hand, use a high performance porty that runs on "clean-in-use" electricity. That again is the positive spin. Buit likewise there is a massive carbon footprint etc. from the manufacture of the machine and the production of the energy.
So, is eco-friendly cleaning, or eco-friendly anything, a reality? IMO no. We, and society, should perhaps refer to it as eco-considerate. Even "Sustainable Cleaning" doesn't tell the whole story as there is so much unecofriendly elements involved prior to the delivery of the actual service.
Doug has mentioned phosphates which are the primary constituent of micro splitters. Whilst they are typically food grade products, The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) state that sewage works are required by the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive to process the sewage for the small amount of phosphates coming from cleaning and human waste products. So there is, by inference from the appropriate government authority, concern over the use of phosphates. Our UK sewage works are successful at managing this, but does in the process create other environmental impacts from energy through to chemicals.
There has been of late, new friendlier products coming onto the market. Products such as Nemesis, M Power, Ecogent and DFC to name but a few. The technology is in it's infancy and I can see more manufacturers stepping upto the mark to develop new, fully biodegradable products.
Beware when buying Green Products. Read the labels and sales blurb. Something that is greener or friendlier than previous formulations doesn't mean to say that it's GREEN or FRIENDLY, just not as "bad" as it was before.
For the record, my cleaning practices minimise the amount of time that my high energy consuming extractor is in use. Lower energy consuming machines and process' are used prior to this. My cleaning solutions are from plant and dairy origins and are fully biodegradable and I don't take the manufacturers word for that as I use products that are certified as so by world recognised independent authorities. I recyle all of my plastic containers and outer packaging, use the smallest van I can get away with that returns 36/37 mpg tank after tank after tank of derv. Although I travel out of area a little, I control my mileage to less than 10k per year. I follow good office practice too of recycling paper etc and being paperless where viable. As a businessman, or householder, there's not a lot more that I can do.
But then, on a sunny day, I'll fire up the Suzuki and hit the road
Life's a b1tch, then you ride
Ken
