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Eco-Friendly, Productive and "Germ-Busting" are the New Standards of Custodial Excellence

Custodians of the Armstrong School District (Ford City, Pa.) are leading a new, systematic approach to cleaning the district’s 12 schools with a method that is environmentally sustainable, cost-effective, and may be helpful in reducing school absenteeism.

There is a long list of custodial advances that have been in place for the past several months.
Some of these include:

Green Cleaning Supplies: Custodians have been using cleaning chemicals that are Green Seal-certified (an international mark of excellence that identifies a product as environmentally preferable).

Eco-Friendly Paper Products: Students and staff have been using toilet tissue and paper towels supplied by the Bay West Company, which doesn’t cut down a single tree and makes paper from 100 percent recycled materials. This will have a big impact in Armstrong School District, which uses about 3,100 pounds of toilet paper and of paper towels in an average month. Using all-recycled paper products in the Armstrong School District will save an estimated 365 trees per year.

Productive, Green Cleaning Machines and Equipment: Custodians use new "water miser" floor scrubbers that require less hot water than traditional cleaning equipment, resulting in a lower energy / environmental impact. The custodial cleaning machines are also more advanced, eliminating the traditional "mop-and-bucket" approach as much as possible, which tends to spread germs around when re-cleansing mops. For areas where mops are needed, cotton mops and cloths have been replaced by micro-fiber mops and cloths, which are mold- and bacteria-resistant. Custodians also use micron-trapping vacuum cleaners that can improve indoor air quality.

Germ-Busting Disinfectants and Sanitizers: Custodians are using hospital-grade disinfectant on all classroom desks and urinals. Also, students and employees have access to touch-free hand sanitizers in each classroom in the district, and touch-free soap dispensers in each bathroom.