The Importance of Keeping Your Washroom Eco-Clean

Needless to say, keeping your washroom clean can influence your staff’s performance and overall mood. But, why not go a step further and make it not just clean, but eco-clean?

What’s the Difference?

Having eco-clean washrooms is not just about the appearance. The thing is, bacteria, odours and all other unpleasant things are less likely to be found in an eco-friendly washroom.

This also means that your employees will be healthier and less likely to catch some disease.

Just because a washroom looks clean, it does not necessarily mean it is healthy as well. This is due to the fact that the contaminators, viruses, bacteria, etc. are way too small to be cleaned with simple things such as a broom and a dustpan. That’s probably one of the reasons why most offices use reliable service providers.

How Bad Can It Be?

Considering the fact that you’ve probably been in hundreds of different toilets by now and never got sick after using them, you may be wondering how bad it can really be. The thing is, not everybody is equally likely to get ill, but studies have confirmed that a certain risk does exist – hepatitis A, flu, and gastroenteritis are just some of the possible diseases you can catch.

Health Tips

With all the above-mentioned in mind, we’ve come up with a list of things that should be considered when it comes to eco-clean washrooms.

Proper Disposal of Rubbish

Throwing used tissues and other trash in a designated bin goes without saying; if the rubbish is not disposed of properly, it might lead to the spreading of harmful bacteria.

Thus, having bins of suitable sizes is essential. The bins should contain biodegradable liners that will make the disposal of filled bags much easier, and the disposal should be taken care of every day.

The ladies’ washroom, of course, needs special facilities to fit the user’s needs. For instance, it should have sanitary napkin disposal units that will make the disposal safe and easy.

These disposal units are highly reliable and most manufacturing brands make sure that the units contain a disposable biodegradable liner that is placed inside a specially designed cartridge that also has essential oil deodorisers. The most important thing, though, is that the napkins cannot fall out once properly placed inside.

Taking Care of the Odour Issue

We are all aware of the odour problem inside washrooms. The well-familiar smell is usually due to the built-up uric acid crystals in urinals and toilet bowls.

These crystals are full of bacteria, so that smell is actually a sign of bad hygiene. One way of dealing with the problem is installing automated air freshener dispensers. However, these don’t actually solve the problem, they just cover it.

Sanitisers, on the other hand, are much more effective since they not only clean the surface of the urinals and bowls but also prevent the uric acid from building up again.

Cross-Contamination – What Are the Risks?

In order to prevent any potential spreading of illnesses and keep your washroom eco-clean, you have to make sure the risk of cross-contamination is minimal. The cross-contamination can happen in a few ways:

• When flushing the toilet
• When using the hot air hand-dryers
• When touching faucets, sinks and other already contaminated surfaces. Research has shown that sinks are actually the dirtiest areas in the washroom.

School Washroom Guide Bacteria Count Graph

This is especially important to be aware of if a school is your workplace.

Our School Washroom Guide will not only teach you how to reduce the risk of cross-contamination but everything you need to know to maximise the health and safety in schools.

The best and safest way to have an eco-clean washroom is to actually clean it regularly and thoroughly. Also, although toilet sanitisers can kill bacteria in the air, it is also a good idea to add hand sanitisers and to replace the hot-air dryers with cloth towel dispensers, since studies have also shown that cloth towel dispensers keep the bacteria inside the dispensers and thus prevent it from spreading.

Eco-Clean Washrooms

Keeping your washroom clean and fresh shows that you care about your employees and customers. It makes a great impression and preserves the health of everybody who uses the washroom. To make sure that washrooms and other areas of your place always smell fresh, our Fresh & Clean automatic wall mounted air fresheners are programmed to dispense a measured dose of fragrance at selected intervals. Since cleanliness is your top priority, we at Alsco would like to help. Our friendly representatives are waiting for you. Call us now.

Photo courtesy of Flickr Images by Gary Bembridge

Plastic Bag Reduction – a Dunedin success

In 2020, Alsco Dunedin collaborated with the Southern District Health Board (SDHB) to eliminate/minimise onsite waste, focusing on plastic bags used in the delivery of Alsco’s rental face cloths. This was consistent with Dunedin’s Budget Achievement plan under its OSH and Environmental commitment. This plan aimed to reduce waste at all levels.

Alsco Dunedin approached the SDHB and floated the idea of eliminating the plastic bag delivery of 25 face cloths, by changing to a laundry bag delivery of 100 face cloths. This gathered great momentum from their Green Champion Team. The branch trialed the service to three wards of the hospital initially, with great feedback. Storage in the linen rooms was much improved with having the laundry bags on hooks complimenting the elimination of the waste. There was also an added benefit for to Alsco’s processing, with an efficiency gain inpacking bags of 100, instead of 25.

“We identified the SDHB as our main user of the plastic bags on average 27,040 per year based on the 2019 consumption. Another motivator for making this change was with the national volumes of the supermarket sized bags being reduced, the bag cost was increasing from our suppliers.”

Dean Muir
ALSCO DUNEDIN BRANCH MANAGER

Message from …

Heather Fleming
District Service Manager SDHB

“This initiative resonated with our staff, especially when the number of plastic bags to be removed from our waste system was understood. Our sustainability committee was really pleased ( as per the quote below) and many of my clinical colleagues commented positively on this great green initiative. It’s amazing that this simple change of process can have such a major impact and our DHB really appreciates Alsco’s initiative in removing these.

As contract manager for the Laundry contract, I too am delighted to work in partnership with an environmentally minded partner to make a positive difference. I look forward to many more”

Heather also included this excerpt from minutes of a meeting of SDHB Sustainability Committee…

Alsco face cloths – Alsco are now delivering face cloths in reusable bags, instead of single use bags saving more than 39,000 plastic bags from landfill per annum. Great work Alsco!

New Initiative – Cotton Recycling

Alsco has joined The Circular Cotton Collective. This is a membership group initiated by Little Yellow Bird, a Wellington-based company that creates high-quality, organic, sustainable, and environmentally responsible clothing.

The program members will pool resources and share costs to aggregate, sort and re-distribute or recycle end-of-life cotton to promote and pilot reduction of textile waste from landfills in Aotearoa. By aggregating end of life cotton textiles, such as ‘end of life’ Alsco cotton garments, and sending them to Europe (where the technology exists) we will able to make new, virgin quality fibres.

The Alsco branches have already supplied 12 tonnes of cotton overalls and garments for the first trial shipment, which should get to it’s destination in Qtr 4 2021. We are already busy collecting garments for the next shipping container. That will be more than 20 tonnes of cottons diverted from our landfills this year, a great start.

“Little Yellow Bird sees a great benefit to partnering with Alsco who we see as a company that pushes the sustainability agenda towards a more circular business model.”

Samanatha Jones
LITTLE YELLOW BIRD FOUNDER /CEO

Here is the press release from early in November…

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU2108/S00096/little-yellow-bird-launches-collaborative-textile-recycling-initiative-to-close-the-loop-on-cotton.htm

another blog of interest…

https://www.ethicallykate.com/blog/2021/5/12/newzealand-clothing-recycling

Recycling Copy Paper – Choose the “Greener” Pastures

A world without paper would be a world of hardship. We’ve all become dependant on it, regardless of its use: printing, copying, note-taking, even scribbling reminders every day.

What’s worse, we all take it for granted – a never-ending source of the material.

A typical office has a large amount of paperwork going on at any moment in time. Turning to recycled paper has become almost obligatory for any self-respecting ‘Green’ Office.

The almighty law of need-and-demand has sadly, but truly put the balance of forest annihilation into our hands. It makes the use of recycled paper more desirable than ever.

Numbers Speak More Than Words: Problems

Statistics from 2008 show that there’s been a drastic rise in the demand for non-recycled paper. We are talking straight from the trees. The popularity of the so-called “virgin pulp” lit a fuse. In 1999, the use was just over 12 million cubic metres. By 2008 it went up by one third, to around 19 million.

Next on the list is the increased, but steady consumption of all sorts of paper products, for writing, packaging and other purposes.

In 1999, 2.5 million tonnes of paper and paper products were consumed. Only a decade later, the figure rose to a total of 3.25 million tonnes.

A Glimpse Of Possible Solutions

There are countless ways to minimise the impacts of our paper consumption.

According to one of Australia’s best-known environmental groups, The Wilderness Society, buying 100% recycled post-consumer waste paper will minimise the effect of paper consumption.

Another good idea is to set up a recycling point in your office. A good starting point is to recycle writing and printing paper. There is no shortage of options when these materials are in question! The only real issue here is which brands are the best and where is the supply point.

Thanks to ‘The Wilderness Society’, the chart below has the most relevant information regarding the suppliers and the branded paper. We included all the comparison cross-references, so all you need to do is to locate and identify local suppliers.

* PCF – Process Chlorine Free-Bleaching
**OfficeMax is accredited by Greenpeace (Germany), Blue-Angel, Nordic Swan.

The figures have shown that Australians are reasonably efficient at recycling households and office waste. Estimates provided on annual basis are the best proof – 1.6 million tonnes of waste paper is collected and used for making recycled paper products and less than 10% of the paper products rubbish end up in Australian landfills.

In 2005 just a meagre 11% of waste office paper was recycled, but it proved that every little effort helps. If you keep 100% recycled post-consumer copy paper in office cabinets, the world’s forests are less affected.

Leading Recycled Paper Brands & Suppliers

Vision – Pure White
100% recycled post-consumer waste. PCF (process chlorine-free bleaching). White A4 and A3: for black and white double or single-sided photocopiers and printers. Vision Magic Colours – available in 10 tints. Made in Germany.

Suppliers:

• OfficeMax Australia (03 9518 5600)
• Special Equipment (02 9609 2300 [NSW]; 07 3348 2266 [QLD])

Evolve
100% recycled post-consumer waste. PCF (process chlorine-free bleaching). Photocopy: white & coloured A4, A3. For high volume printing and copying contact Evolve Office, and for use in colour, copiers contact Evolve Business. Made in France.

Suppliers:

• ecocern (02 9337 2737)
• SCRAP (Australia wide) 02 9825 1062
• CPI (03 9239 3600)
• Going Solar (03 9348 1000)

OfficeMax
100% Recycled Copy Paper and 100% recycled post-consumer waste. Photocopy white, A4, A3, A5. Accredited by: Greenpeace (Germany), Blue-Angel, Nordic Swan.

Suppliers:

• OfficeMax 1300 MYDESK (1300 693 375)

Fuji Xerox Recycled Pure+
100% recycled post-consumer waste. Photocopy white, A4, A3. Other colours are also available. PCF.

Suppliers:

• Fuji Xerox 13 14 11

Ecocern
100% post-consumer recycled paper scrap. Available in A1, A3 and A4. Envelopes and paper bags also. Made in Australia.

Supplier:

• Ecocern (02 9337 2737)

Sources:

• Recycled Copy Paper’, The Wilderness Society
• Ten Years of Recycling: The Good the Bad and the Ugly’, Plant Ark (2005)

Photo: Stux

Alsco Cleans Up Rivers, Joins Waterway Replanting Project

What An Effort!

Alsco staff, family & friends contributed 300 volunteer hours to million metres project – what and effort!

Did You Know That Alsco Cleans Up Rivers

Earlier this year, Alsco joined with the exciting Million Metres Streams Project. It’s a three-year partnership that will help transform New Zealand’s waterways.

Million Metres is led by the Sustainable Business Network (SBN), in partnership with the Department of Conservation.

Its aim to is to support communities to replant one million metres of New Zealand waterways by 2026. Alsco is an SBN Member, joining more than 500 other business finding ways to change the way we work to put people and planet first.

This winter, Alsco staff joined Million Metres at planting days around the country. More than 130 Alsco staff, family, and friends from five branches got stuck in. Together they contributed more than 300 volunteer hours to the effort.

Along with volunteers from local community organizations and other business, they helped get an impressive 3,900 native plants in the ground along 1480 metres of waterway:

• 800 plants at the Whau River in Ken Maunder Park, West Auckland.
• 900 plants at Mangaonua Stream in Silverdale, Hamilton
• 1,000 plants at Tahawai Stream in Katikati, Bay of Plenty.
• 800 plants at Mangapapa Stream in Woodville, Manawatu.
• 400 plants and trees at Belmont Stream in Seton Nossiter Park, Wellington.

Throughout the year Alsco has also donated $3,000 to eight waterway restoration projects around the country, via Million Metres crowdfunding platform (www.millionmetres.org.nz)

As the trees from these projects grow they will shade and cool the waterways. They help protect the waterways from soil erosion and pollution and they provide habitat and food for native birds and fish.

The Million Metres project is gaining momentum all over the country. It has now raised over half a million dollar for 25 waterway restoration projects across New Zealand.

Georgi Hart is project lead for Million Metres.

“What is underway is a vital shift in the way New Zealanders relate to their streams, rivers and lakes,” she says, “It wouldn’t be possible without partners like Alsco.”

“It’s so great that Alsco staff and their families have given their time and energy to this. We look forward to doing more!”

Gavin Smith is Business and Product Development Manager for Alsco. “Million Metres is a wonderful partnership for Alsco. It is something our employees, families, suppliers, and customers can really relate to and there is a genuine energy associated with our involvement. It is fantastic to see kids, parents and friends join our teams for these plantings. Not only do they enjoy participating, but we know we are making a positive and tangible long term environmental impact, and that flows onto social goodwill and community pride,” he says.

“Alsco is a large user of water and we want to do whatever we can to minimise our impact on the environment. Our support of the Million Metres initiative is a tangible and collective action by our teams nationwide that is creating a real social, environmental, and economic difference. We are really grateful for all the wonderful support and feedback from the wider Alsco family in relation to our contribution to Million Metres.”

How to Build a Sustainable Safety Culture Through Employee Mind-Set Shifts

Culture eats strategy for breakfast. This phrase is a popular catchphrase but still remains true. While workplace culture has become trendy, creating a safety culture remains a struggle. It’s the cornerstone of successfully implementing an effective health and safety program.
Safety culture refers to the mindset, attitudes, and behaviors of workers, supervisors, and owners toward safety in the workplace. It is impossible to fix it in isolation. You need coordinated efforts to create a wholesome safety culture.
It can be daunting to change your safety culture due to creeping complacency. Complacency can lead to catastrophic accidents, injuries, illness and sometimes threats to life. Don’t let this thought cripple you. There is always a way out.

Creating a Safety Culture

A systematic approach to creating a safety culture is the best way to start. Management needs to be on board and supportive of safe and healthy work practices. The goal is to instill new safety-related values in both management and staff.
Remember the core responsibilities of both management and employees in an organization. These roles influence how they view the task of creating a safety culture. If you provide essential first aid kits and create safety training programs with these factors in mind, you’re likely to succeed.

Table 1

Limiting Beliefs to a Safety Culture

There are mental roadblocks that prevent employees and management from immediately adopting safety. It’s important to be aware so you can know how to handle them. While management sets the pace for culture, both workers and leaders need to believe in the need for change. These common limiting beliefs offer insight into how to get support for a safety program.

Employees

When an organization pays too much attention to processes and tools, it’s easy to forget the staff. This prevents employees from trusting their intentions. Underlying feelings are the greatest motivators of behavior. It is important to address these limiting beliefs before they show up and hinder safety in your workplace.

• Limiting Belief 1: Fear of Being Penalized

  Despite their best intentions, many training programs leave employees wary of reporting incidents. They feel like they will be penalized for reporting too many incidents. They get this impression when procedures need staff to only report serious injuries.
  When employees hold back information, the whole company loses out. Management fails to learn from the near misses and other staff members don’t learn what to avoid. Frequent reports of danger are important in building an up-to-date safety policy. It will be able to accommodate changes in weather and unexpected challenges.

• Limiting Belief 2: Feeling Disengaged From Work

  Employees feel disempowered when you enforce a safety rule that makes their work harder. They feel the same if you don’t consult or ask for their input. It’s discouraging when safety rules make work harder than necessary.
  To empower your staff is easy. When the safety team creates new rules, talk to your staff. Understand what they feel about the new regulations. They’ll give you insights you didn’t think of since they are on the frontlines. They have a better grasp of the implications of the rules.
  Managers can also try a policy called “Managed Safety” as opposed to “Regulated Safety.” “Managed safety” gives staff the leeway to wear protective clothing when it’s necessary. Strict compliance with rules is ‘regulated safety.’ It does little in ensuring safety standards improve. In environments with significant variations in operational conditions, “managed safety” is important.

• Limiting Belief 3: Valuing Productivity Over Safety

  Since employees come to work to get things done, it is easy for them to sacrifice safety for productivity. Without a clear incentive to focus on safety, no one wants to be unproductive. Management needs to signal that safety is the priority. Otherwise, employees will conclude it’s okay to focus on results at the expense of safety.
  Management can counter this mindset by creating inclusive safety processes. Take work procedures into consideration while integrating safety and productivity. It sends a message that although work goes on, safety is the priority. It’s okay to pause work to solve safety issues.

Management

All levels of management serve as an example of safety culture in any organization. How they act toward staff and each other sets the tone in a company. When upper management supports workplace safety, it helps the employees embrace it.

Sourec: safetysolutionorgin.blogspot.com

• Limiting Belief 1: Negative Perspective on Culture Change

  Half-hearted implementation happens when managers have a low expectation of the process They expect change to come in years if it ever comes at all. Some are passive while others come in with little to no expectations of change. When this happens, managers fail to gain support from key influencers, build momentum or deliver early wins.
  Managers shouldn’t wait to deliver bad news to a worker’s family to get serious about safety. Find a way to make it personal. This way, you can be able to spread the urgency of safety and cleanliness to your team.
  Change is possible in a few months of concentrated and deliberate effort. When you commit to creating change, nothing will stop you from implementing what needs to be done. Culture is intentional. When a manager is serious, the staff will know and fall in line. Simple things like increasing signage or safety posters can lead to a huge improvement in safety.

• Limiting Belief 2: Over-Reliance on Behaviour Incentives

  In isolation, a behavior-based style of changing culture is defective. It leads to a culture of accusation where people get direct blame for accidents and incidents. Without considering external factors, you lose sight of reality. Well-rounded information helps you learn and put in place improvements.
  Reliance on behavior also leads to false incentive systems. When you reward workers for minimal accidents, it prevents staff from reporting all incidents. They do so to save their jobs and avoid penalties. This prevents your organization from learning about near misses and structural irregularities.
  Introduce structural cues that improve safety. They include signage in the appropriate areas. Place first aid kits strategically around your premises. First aid kits are crucial to a fast response in case of an accident. They are also a great psychological cue that reminds staff to value safety.

• Limiting Belief 3: Treating Safety as an Afterthought

  Reactive safety management is a common problem. Managers focus only on what is measured. When your organization doesn’t reward managers for prioritizing safety, they will keep it as a low priority item. It’s natural to only focus on what will gain praise and a possible promotion.
  Most organizations use statistics like incident rates to measure safety. However, just because there are few injuries at the workplace, it doesn’t mean it is up to the appropriate standards. Change how you measure safety to ensure your workplace gets safer. Don’t expose your staff to unnecessary risk. A well-meaning manager can overlook safety if the wrong metrics are used to measure it.
  Measure safety through proactive action from both management and staff. When you keep track of what the team accomplishes, it makes safety a daily concern. This can include providing clean changing rooms for wearing protective clothing. Keep the workplace hygienic by providing lockers for both clean and soiled uniforms. Managing safety in addition to other duties can be daunting. Consider outsourcing a uniform and cleaning vendor that can save you the headache. Get one that suits your budget and needs.

Make Your Safety Culture Sustainable

Safety culture is a group effort that starts at the top and involves all employees. From the limiting beliefs explored, we realize they are a result of a miscommunication of priorities.
Leadership needs to lead from the top. All levels of management are responsible for communicating the importance of safety. Lead with actions, and your team will soon be on board. Make it personal to become persuasive.
For your employees, the key is consistent communication and engagement. They want to do a good job, and when you keep them in the loop, they feel a sense of ownership. An engaged employee is a productive employee. Work with reliable vendors to help manage the safety needs of your staff, and you can never go wrong.

Photo: Fanjianhua

Ocean Plastics in the Hauraki Gulf

The Sustainable Business Network (SBN) partnered with Auckland Whale & Dolphin Safari to do a deep dive into ocean plastics out on the waters of the Hauraki Gulf. The Ocean Plastics Field Trip took place on Tuesday 27 August.

There were expert speakers on the local-to-global scale of the impacts of plastics in the ocean.

Speakers included:

Devina Shetty: Institute of Marine Science, University of Auckland
Camden Howitt: Co-Founder, Sustainable Coastlines
Phil Jones: Gulf X programme Lead, Sustainable Business Network

Jeannine Goddard our Client Relationship Manager based in our Support Centre in Ellerslie was invited to go along.

A few words from Jeannine

“Thank you for inviting me to be a part of the day. It was great to meet you and to listen to the fantastic speakers as well as the opportunity to meet some really inspiring people!

Davina’s research is fascinating and Cam is so passionate but really down to earth at the same time which made him very easy to relate to.

Some of the stats were really scary! I was particularly shocked by the ‘container loads’ of rubbish that groups around the country have collected & the fact that New Zealand’s Clean Green reputation actually puts us at #9 on the list of the most wasteful countries in the developed world higher than both USA & China!! Certainly opened my eyes wide & made me want to do better knowing the impact.

It was a real privilege to be able to attend on behalf of Alsco and I’m really proud to be a part of an organisation that sees the importance of sustainability and really tries to ‘walk the talk’ with the sustainability journey.”

32 Great Tips To Convince Your Employees To Join Your Green Initiative

Going green is a positive, environmentally conscious trend among modern companies all around the world, and many new and experienced business owners want to go down this road.

However, a lot of them have a feeling that it is difficult to make the first step.

The truth is, it isn’t hard at all to start making your company more eco-friendly.

All you need to do is take care of simple things first, things that at first sight look too mundane to be addressed.

Any company can do this, and what’s more, not only will it not bankrupt you, it may even make you become more successful and get you to make more money.

It will make you more sustainable, it will help you cut costs. And, honestly, a Carbon Tax is in the works, and it will essentially make all businesses cut down on their carbon emissions. So, trust us when we say that going green is always an excellent choice.

However, you are not the only one in your company (right?). That’s why you will need to advise and convince everybody that is part of your company on how important and useful this is.

Bellow, you will find 32 tips and tricks for convincing your employees just how important the green initiative is, as well as how easy it is to become a part of it.

1. Print On Both Sides

This one is quick and easy. Get a printer that can make double-sided copies and prints. Furthermore, try to avoid using colored prints. If you get colored one-sided prints, you will waste a lot of money, and a lot of resources, for nothing.

2. Recycle Cartridges

Paper is not the only thing that you can recycle. Cartridges can be replaced and recycled as well.

3. Don’t Use Paper If Possible

So one of the first things you should do is waste as little paper as possible. This means that have as much of your work online. Don’t forget to backup all the files you place in the cloud. If you must have a physical document in your hands, have your people review it, and scan it.

4. If You Use Paper, Recycle It!

Now, if getting totally rid of all paper is impossible, then recycling is simply a must. And not only should you recycle, but you should get recycled materials as well. So, get paper that has been coloured and processed via eco-friendly methods and processes. Also, get paper that has very little, to no, chlorine bleaching.

5. Consider Obtaining Green Software

Use software programs like GreenPrint that can identify wasteful printing and alert the user about the possible wasted paper space. It also recommends ways to eliminate it. In fact, GreenPrint claims to save businesses 17 percent on printing materials every year.

6. Misprints Can Be Reused

Give away notepads made of recycled misprints and so everyone knows their misprints can still be used and not just thrown away.

7. Reuse For Packing

If your staff needs to ship packages, have them reuse shipping boxes and shredded waste paper as packing material.

8. Dress Casual Every Day

What about implementing a business casual clothing policy? Instead of wearing very formal and stuffy clothing, they can switch to something more casual. You may end up saving on dry cleaning, and on air conditioning.

9. Save Resources By Working From Home

What about working from home? Sounds crazy, maybe even a bit lazy, but honestly, it really can help your company save up some cash and make it waste less natural resources. You can communicate with your employees as much as you can via Skype or other tools, and go to the office only when you really have to.

This will get you to use less gas for transportation, among other things.

10. Encourage Workers To Leave Their Cars At Home

Help reduce traffic congestion by encouraging everyone to carpool, take public transit, bike, or walk to work if the workplace is reasonably near their home.

11. Electric Cars? You Know You Like Them

Get a hybrid or electric car. Not only are they very safe, cost-efficient and good for the environment, but they look pretty cool too. Encourage your employees, and get them to follow your example. Let them follow your lead.

12. Experiment With Work Day Lengths

Consider having your employees work 10 hours a day for 4 days instead of 8 hours a day for 5 days. This helps cut energy costs for the company and travel costs for everyone. Who wouldn’t love three-day weekends?

13. Promote Natural Light

Natural light helps employees with productivity and satisfaction. So, make the most of the natural daylight and use it as a free source of lighting in the workplace instead of having all those artificial lights on all day.

This can work perfectly for all the desks that are close to huge windows.

Also, advise everyone never to leave the lights on at night when it’s time to go home.

14. Use Recycled Materials Whenever You Can

Stock up on recycled pens and pencils and encourage everyone to use them. It’s also better to get refillable pens and markers instead of buying disposable ones.

15. Biodegradable Is The Future

Getting a good deal of your office materials replaced with biodegradable versions is also a good way to go green.

16. Biodegradable Cleaners Today!

Have your cleaning people use biodegradable cleaners exclusively. Unlike regular cleaning agents, these will not influence the health of your staff. They will actually help eliminate harmful substances, while not being toxic for the cleaners, or for the environment.

17. Introduce Some Greenery

Go Green by having some greenery in your office. This means get some plants in there. Plants absorb airborne pollutants, as well as emitting oxygen into the air.

This will make your workplace much healthier, not to mention, much prettier.

18. Replace Your Mats

Instruct employees on the use dust control & floor protection mats. Place these mats by the door to keep dirt, dust, and bacteria from invading your workplace. It will reduce the need for everyday vacuuming and cleanups using harsh chemicals.

19. Prevent Wastefulness With Office Supplies

Advise the office manager to regularly keep tabs on your supplies cabinet. This helps keep employees from being wasteful with the office supplies.

20. Give Your Workers A Treat

Explain the importance of cost savings to your employees and perhaps come up with a program that allows you to throw pizza parties, organize lunches or dinners for everybody.

You can do it using the money you all have saved from conserving your office supplies. This will make the savings more tangible for everybody and encourage their efforts.

21. Update Your Mailing List

Keeping your mailing list updated all the time will keep everyone from sending out unnecessary letters. This means you’ll be saving on paper, printing, and postage.

22. Save Water

Promote conservation of water in the office kitchen or washroom. Toilet flushing wastes a lot of water. You can limit the amount of water wasted per flush by putting a brick in the tank.

23. Buy In Bulk

Avoid buying individual packets of coffee, creamer, sugar, pepper, salt, jam, and other consumables for the office pantry. Get them in bulk instead. Make sure to keep them organized and sanitary.

24. Unplug It If You Don’t Use It

Advise employees to unplug their computers, printers, scanners, photocopiers, and other devices before they leave work. Did you know that a huge percentage of office power is consumed by machines that are not even being used?

These are the machines that may be off but are still plugged into an outlet. This makes them one of the biggest environmental culprits and expenses today called ‘standby power’ or ‘phantom power’.

25. Switch Off Your Displays

Instead of using screensavers, have everyone set monitors to power off instead. Basically just turn everything off when it’s not about to be used for several minutes or more including the lights.

26. Say No To Bottled Water

Discourage bottled water use in the workplace and even at any work-related event or meeting. Raise awareness about why you need to stop drinking bottled water and the alternatives you can switch to.

27. Replace Plastics

You might also consider a one-time investment for glass and silver plates for you and your employees to use in the office kitchen or cafeteria during lunch breaks.

28. Promote Bringing Your Own Utensils

Instead of using disposable spoons and forks, encourage everyone to bring their own reusable utensils so you don’t throw away large quantities of plastic on a daily basis.

29. Pack Food In Reusable Containers

Encourage employees to bring lunch to work in reusable containers. As much as possible, avoid getting delivery and takeout as these usually end up being a pile of packaging waste in your office’s trash bins.

Your employees can also bring in their favorite mug from home to reduce or even eliminate the use of paper cups.

30. Make Recycling A Habit

Make sure each department has their own small recycling bins so that recycling becomes everyone’s habit in your company.

31. Assemble A Green Team

Couldn’t think of more ‘green’ ideas for the workplace? Build an employee-run ‘green’ team or committee whose members will brainstorm and come up with more Earth-conscious measures for your office. This will make everyone feel more involved and create a team atmosphere.

32. Let Everyone Know!

Share these tips with your colleagues. Spread awareness in the entire workplace. You can put up signs, posters, and bulletin boards everywhere in the office.

Share studies and statistics about the company’s imprint on the environment. Share the company’s long-term goals and ask for suggestions, opinions and other ideas as well.

Now, we spoke so much about how to be part of the green initiative, but we haven’t mentioned just how much it influences workplace morale, employee retention, and, of course, cost reduction. You will see amazing strides in all of these areas after you go green.

The good news is, there are companies like Alsco that strongly support ‘Green’ businesses. We provide services that will help every business owner, big or small, achieve total workplace sustainability.

Get in touch with Alsco today and our friendly staff will be more than happy to assist you with everything you need to get your ‘green initiative’ started.

Photo courtesy of Max Pixel Images by Panasonic DMC-Fx9

Reusable Food Wipes: The Green Solution For Your Kitchen

Going green is a positive, environmentally conscious trend among the modern companies all around the world, and many new and experienced business owners want to go down this road.

However, a lot of them have a feeling that it is difficult to make the first step.

The truth is, it isn’t hard at all to start making your company more eco-friendly.

All you need to do is take care of simple things first, things that at first sight look too mundane to be addressed.

For example, if you consider the amount of waste created by paper products designed to be thrown away after one use, like paper towels, for example, it becomes clear that introducing a more sustainable solution like cloth wipes is the right way to go.

Read on to find out more about this particular issue.

Clean Kitchen Is A Must

Every restaurant owner should know that the clean kitchen is the first prerequisite for a good restaurant.

A clean kitchen is a healthy kitchen. It is very easy for bacteria to develop among food leftovers and other impurities which normally appear during a normal working day in a restaurant. Since taking care of your employee’s and your guests’ health should be your top priority, you need to make sure that the food preparation area is always kept in impeccable condition.

It is true that your guests rarely get to see what your kitchen looks like. But you need only one food poisoning to forever tarnish reputation of your restaurant, so do all you can to prevent it.

There are a number of chemicals used for cleaning kitchens, each specific to a certain area.

• Chlorine bleach and iodine are very effective when used to disinfect work surfaces and cooking equipment.
• Alkali detergents are used for heavy duty requirements.
• Acid based cleaners are used for cleaning ovens, floors and walls.
• Regular detergents can be used in many areas, from washing to general cleaning.

These chemical cleaners are available in industrial strength and are preferable to those commercially available for home use. In general industrial strength cleaners have less “fillers” and are more effective than their commercially available cousins.

The Negative Side Of Paper Based Wipes

While paper based products can be used for cleaning in a kitchen, these products need to be disposed of after use and generally cannot be recycled effectively. Paper based wipes are less durable and are a one use only type of cleaner. Continued use of these products can lead to bacterial contamination of sterile areas.

There are a number of stronger “paper” based cloths available which have a reasonable life durability, but are unable to be recycled and have a tendency to be used beyond their usable “sterile life”

Why Using Reusable Wipes Is The Way To Go

The use of reusable wipes provides a more hygienic solution for keeping a restaurant clean. A systematic approach has been developed for the use of cotton cloth wipes.

Different coloured cloths help identify where they should be used so cross contamination is minimised.

There are four available colors of cotton wipes, which helps your staff know which part of kitchen should be cleaned with which wipes.

• Use Green wipes to clean areas where you prepare raw food.
• Use Blue wipes to clean spaces where the food is cooked.
• Pink wipes are for general use in restaurant establishments..
• White cloths are all purpose wipes used for general cleaning.

These colors conform to the HACCP Food Safety System rules and you are required to use them as prescribed, especially if you go through an audit.

Cotton Cloth Uses

Using a cloth for cleaning is not limited to benches in the kitchen – cotton cloths are very effective for drying of dishes and detailing of glassware.

• For drying of dishes, nothing beats a cotton tea towel, which also has the advantage of being ideal for use as a general cleaning cloth.
• In the case of detailing of glassware, in particular wine glasses, the best solution is a slightly damp polyester cloth.
• While cotton cloths are effective in glass detailing, polyester cloths have the advantage of leaving no lint.

For general restaurant use, polyester cloths have the disadvantage of not being able to be used near hot surfaces as the polyester will melt. However, their inherent natural properties make them an ideal cloth for cleaning up.

Cotton cloth wipes are made from natural fibres, while micro-fibre is a synthetic product made from very fine polyester and polyamide threads. Visually, there is little difference between a micro-fibre and cotton cloth, both have a similar texture and feel. However, there are some significant differences between the products.

Micro-fibre fibres are thinner than a strand of hair, in comparison to cotton which is a thicker thread. Micro-fibres have strong elasticity content and resist shrinking or stretching.

The angled edges of the fibres contain deep splits to attract moisture and dirt, leaving no residue after cleaning. The dirt is trapped and held in the fibres until the cloths are washed.

Cotton is the most widely used textile fibre in the world.

Natural cellulose is spun with long-staple cotton and woven into a 100% natural cloth. The result is a soft and absorbent cloth that will not cause scratching, ideal for glass cleaning.

Once this type of fabric has been through its first few washes it becomes more absorbent but has the disadvantage of potentially leaving lint when used as a glass wipe.

Reusable Wipes – Clean To Green

If you have any more questions regarding the proper use of cloth wipes, feel free to contact Alsco and ask more about this subject. Call 0800 4 ALSCO and talk to our friendly representatives who are always more than happy to assist you in finding the solution that best fits your needs.

Photo courtesy of Flickr Images by Didriks

Evolution Mats For A Clean And Green Workplace

Mats used to be commonly associated with creating an appealing and attractive welcome to one’s home or workplace. But is there any real effectiveness to them except pure aesthetics?

However, taking care of what is under our feet has become more important than before.

The reason for that lies in changes of perspective. Today, environmentally-friendly products and procedures have almost become a requirement.

Also, health and safety at work have significantly improved, as well as care for working conditions of employees.

This is why cutting-edge Evolution Mats produced by Alsco are the last word in mat production. Made from recycled materials, they help in controlling dust and dirt, but also prevent trip hazards and fatigue in employees.

Cleaner Workplace

Stop dirt right at your door and prevent it from spreading by using entrance mats. Since 70% of all the dust and dirt is brought in by foot, no wonder then why entrance mats are a necessity in creating a cleaner workplace.

If you still use textile floor mats, you should know that they are an ideal bacteria breeding ground. People pick them up as they walk over fibers and spread them further.

Research has shown that as many 5,000 bacteria exist in each square inch of footwear. But anti-microbial mats are the right solution to this problem. The development of anti-microbial mats means that this no longer is a problem.

Antimicrobial additives used on mats prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi in order to provide a healthier and cleaner work environment.

Greener Workplace

Alsco Evolution Mats are made from recycled and re-engineered materials. This means that no raw materials are used in the production process. In addition to all the advantages of recycling rubber, plastics and other fibres, less water and energy are used in the production of Evolution Mats.

Healthier Workplace

When it comes to taking care of your staff’s health, anti-fatigue mats are the perfect solution to preventing negative impacts of standing for extended periods. They are safe, comfortable, and highly resistant.

Common Musculoskeletal Effects

• Back and foot pain
• Joint pain
• Exhaustion which can result in accidents

Pressure-absorbent rubber and other materials with similar effects, as well as thicker piles with cushioned bases, help ease the problem.

Various studies have shown that these mats lead to reduced absenteeism and injuries, and increased employee satisfaction and productivity.

Safer Workplace

Safety of your employees’ matters. If you aim to create a safe environment for your workers, then floor mats would be your most logical choice.

Adding mats to any place where employees work with water, oil, or there are slippery floors, is crucial to preventing injuries.

Why You Should Choose These Mats

Made from specialised, waterproof rubber, these mats are not only resistant to water, but also to other liquids, such as oils and solvents. Today’s mats are also ripple-free and have bevelled edges, for bringing the safety aspect to the next level.

As they are textured for grip and safety, they are great for all workplaces with heavy traffic. Tripping over a mat is practically impossible.

But that’s not all. In highly competitive markets, opting for products and companies that make a difference has become a matter of doing the right thing. Using recycling instead of raw materials, by using Evolution Mats you contribute to reducing carbon emissions and protecting the environment.

A Clean And Environmentally-Friendly Office

Make sure your office is clean and well-maintained, as it leaves a good impression on both employees and customers. Start with the simple yet efficient steps of creating a safe workplace by installing our floorcare solution mats. Choose from our Work & Dust Control Mats, Anti-Fatigue & Wet Area Mats, Message & Safety Mats, Welcome Mats, Corporate & Logo Mats, and Entrance Mats. They are all made from recycled and eco-friendly materials.

Call Alsco now and we will be more than happy to help you achieve these goals.