The US federal government follows certain environmental considerations when purchasing cleaning products. Seeing the rising levels of pollution in the city of Portland, you must also consider purchasing green products and contribute to the green cleaning drive.
The EPA -- Environmental Protection Agency has developed five guiding principles that have been designed to help people make environmentally preferable purchases of cleaning products. In other words, by following these principles, citizens can buy cleaning products that are safe to use, and do not cause harm to the people or surrounding environment.
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The gist of the five principles for product purchase, as outlined by the EPA is:
* Buyers must consider the product’s impact on the environment just as they would think of its price and performance.
* Pollution prevention must be emphasized upon from the beginning of the purchasing process.
* Consider the product’s life cycle and its multiple environmental attributes that include increased energy efficiency, reduced toxicity, or reduced impacts on various ecosystems.
* Making a comparison is always a smart move. You must compare the relative environmental impacts of each product when you think of buying them.
* You must check up on the environmental performance of a product before buying. Does it actually do what it claims?
What Should You Take Into Account When Purchasing A Cleaning Product?
You have to rate a product against a list of attributes given by EPA guiding principles. This means you need to take into account performance, price, availability, regulatory requirements, and environmental impact of a product. Always compare products, and choose one that is manufactured with a renewable energy source, or one that has lower VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) content.
Do not be lured by vague and unsupported claims like as "environmentally friendly," or "eco safe." You must ask vendors or manufacturers to define the “friendliness” of their product.
Refer to a trusted federal source of environmentally friendly standards to make comparisons, and separate facts from marketing claims. You must also make a note of the manufacturing company. What standard is the company known to follow, and what are their principles? This will give you an idea about their commitment to the Green Clean initiative.
You can also ask about the life cycle impact of the products, as in their long term impact on the environment. If this information is unavailable, then you can make an estimation considering the products used in manufacturing.
Being a Portland citizen, you are conscious about your duties as a responsible citizen. That is why you must make an informed decision when choosing cleaning products for your commercial facility or for your home.
Place environmental impact on the top of the list of attributes that you use to consider a product, just as you would with price and performance. This will ensure that you go green when cleaning your facility. Regular cleaning and maintenance are important tasks that need to be taken up in regularly, but you have to remember that while doing so you are not risking the health of the building occupants or polluting the environment of Portland Green Cleaning is the way of the future, and when choosing a product or a cleaning company, keep this idea as a top priority.