Dr. Dirt’s Janitor & Cleaning Supplies

I don’t pretend to be the final arbiter on this topic, however I spend a large amount of my time studying the issues and selling products I am confident meet an acceptable standard. There is way too much “greenwashing”, taking a product and repackaging it as green, chemicals, equipment and many other categories. So as always beware.

Third party certification is an issue that you should learn more about. At this point Green Seal has the most visibility with my customers. It has done a lot of pioneering on the standards and products carrying their label should be considered. I have been impressed with the efforts of Design for the Environment (Dfe) in the chemical area and see them as the potential leader in third party approval standards. Green Label for equipment is helpful but I think leaves room for improvement. A new player is called cleangredients which is an EPA initiative to define what are green raw materials that should be used in formulating new products.

Self-certification is something that should be closely examined before you accept someone’s word about it being green. Keep in mind not all categories of products have defined standards. However I have found a number of self-certified green products that are to my examination are acceptable and useful for my customers.

So don’t be afraid to leap in and try to find what you are looking for. Just beware study a little and as always things are not always what someone says they are.

Dr Dirt