By David Goldstein, Environmental Resource Analyst with the Ventura County Public Works Agency

With recent rains and cold weather, it may feel like winter, but spring officially started last week. Are you ready for spring cleaning? For those wanting to “green” their clean, cleaning is not just a matter of removing material such as dirt, grime, crumbs, skin cells or pet hair from surfaces and crevices. Cleaning also does not just mean disinfection. Instead, the meaning of “clean” can include removing pollutants and cutting waste. Killing germs is important, but battling biological enemies does not have to come at the cost of tolerating chemical pollutants and creating waste.
The Ventura County General Services Agency’s 2023 Earth Day guide, distributed in preparation for next month’s Earth Day facility tour, describes several green methods and products custodial crews at County facilities use to clean facilities serving thousands of people per day. The guide emphasizes the products and methods selected are evaluated not just on the basis of cost and efficacy, but also with consideration for “recycled content, landfill and water impacts, and chemical content.”
“Green soap dispensers” are one simple success highlighted in the guide. The agency reports replacing 96 percent of soap dispensers in the buildings served by County custodians. “The new foaming soap is not only bio-based, but it is also Green Seal Certified,” reports the guide. Impressively, mainly by dispensing as a foam from a compressed source, rather than transferring liquid soaps from a wall-mounted container to a customer’s hands, the new system has reduced soap costs by 50 percent, according to the guide.
Such soaps are also available for residential use. A search at Amazon.com for “non-toxic foaming soaps” generated 430 results. Many of these come with refillable soap dispensers, so buyers can buy refills in large bottles, saving money and cutting waste.
The soap’s Green Seal certification mentioned in the guide refers to a non-profit organization which has been certifying products for more than three decades. Other non-profit organizations, as well as the public agencies, also manage certification programs; however, Green Seal was an innovator and is known for its rigorous health, sustainability, and performance standards. At www.greenseal.org, consumers can find certified products and services to “make healthier, greener choices” for home, school, or workplace.
If you do not see Green Seal certified options when buying cleaning products, you can still make greener choices by avoiding products labeled with the words “danger,” poison,” “caution,” or “warning.” You might also avoid toxic products and excessive packaging by creating your own cleaning, polishing, and deodorizing products from non-toxic ingredients such as baking soda, cornstarch, toothpaste, lemon juice, vegetable-based liquid soap, vinegar, and borax.
Recipes for 10 “all natural, homemade cleaning solutions” are available at www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/green-living/natural-cleaning-recipes. Many of these recipes start with plant-based cleaners, and there are even plant-based disinfectants. The most common of these is vinegar, which is a great cleaner, but not as powerful as bleach or alcohol.
If a plant-based solution does not work as quickly or effectively as chemical-based cleaners and disinfectants, the difference can often be overcome with the addition of another ingredient – elbow grease. When applying these cleaners, start with less abrasive tools, such as nylon scrubbers, and then work your way up to toothbrushes, pencil erasers, steel wool, pumice bars, or single-edge razor blades if you need to really scrape and scrub.
Basic, chemical-based cleaning products can be used in less environmentally taxing ways. For example, bleach solution, according to the label, may be mixed from a bulk container at a rate of one-third cup per one gallon of water. This reduces the consumption of individually packaged, bleach-based products. Just do not mix bleach with ammonia when making your own cleaning products. Doing so produces a toxic gas.
The General Services Agency Earth Day Tour will take place April 21. Meet at the Hall of Administration Fountain at noon. Register in advance by using the QRTY code at
https://www.ventura.org/general-services-agency/earthday/
David Goldstein, Environmental Resource Analyst with the Ventura County Public Works Agency, may be reached at (805) 658-4312 or david.goldstein@ventura.org