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We all know that the bid process for the cleaning contract is the common practice, but terribly flawed.  The bidding process is designed to force all cleaning services to cut their fees down to bare minimum.  We also know the cut-throat factor that will take the contract and eventually cut corners in order to make a profit.  The lowest bid is not the best way to get the best service.

To change the "Low Bid Mentality", some cleaning services will offer other benefits like meals, golf outings, and vacations to those who control the decision process.  This too seems unfair but necessary.  

The Green Clean Institute suggests another, very legitimate, option.  Include your GCI Green Firm certification and the GHBP building certification provided by your Green certified service.  You see, there is a difference between a cleaning service that boasts about its Green qualities and one who can actually deliver proof of its Green accomplishments.

It is obvious that the ONE BASIC ASSET that every cleaning service has already in place.  That critical asset is the workers who are the FRONTLINE of any Green Cleaning Service.  The workers are the point at which Green cleaning is applied or neglected.  That is why the Green Clean Institute has promoted the training and certification of the forntline workers as the primary requirement for a serously Green cleaning service.  

The Green Clean Institute beleives that there is a need to better understand the attribute that are accidentally mushed together.  Words like "Green", "Sustainable", "Environmental", "Healthy", "Eco-Safe", "Pollution", or "Organic" are considered important, but there is a need for a better understanding rather than playing a Whack-Mole evironmental mania.

Liston, if any person or building manager wanted to "Go Green", it's a mysterious path that depending on the SECTOR of your adisor.  So, installing CFL lights sounds like a Green idea, but its not.  Green is not "Energy Saving" or the choice of building products.  As you will quickly discover, the best way to make improvements is to choose one SECTOR before jumping into "All of the Above" options.

One of the basic goals fo the Green Clean Institute is to make "Going Green" uncomplicated yet very effective.  Other Green certification project have gone too far as either a "Pay to Play" system that is as simple as filling in a form and paying a fee or as complex as audits, extreme demands, and very high prices.

Searching the Internet, you will find several website that ask the application to "Self Declare" that they comply with various Green standards, pay a fee, and get their Green approved or certified seal.  If you like the "Fast Eddie" approach that ignores sincerity, there are plenty.

The Seriously Green Network is an outgrowth of the mission of the Green Clean Institute.  That Green cleaning mission is promoting the basic, practical steps that actually develops a Seriously Green cleaning service.  At the core of the Green cleaning mission is the fact that Going Green is progressive, not a one-time effort.  This is why our network also encourages a point system to grade the level of active Green and environmental success for any building.

The Green Clean Institute has been reviewing and certifying Green Cleaning products based on an innovative standard.  The Green Clean Institute anticipates that much of the testing, ingredient review, and safety standard were done prior to submission of a quality product for Green product review and certification.  The $400 submission fee is refunded if the product does not pass certification review.  The price of $1500 per distinct product submitted is far less than the fees and delys that are required by LEED, DfL, or similar programs.  We feel that there is no reason to charge extreme price, duplicate tests already done, or create excessive paperwork logjams.

Candace Richmond is very pleased to offer a brand new solution to the many cleaning services that have or wish to have the GCI Green Cleaning certificate.  Uing the tools available through YouTube to make the excellent information found in the Green Cleaning Technician course in every language.  The barriers to creating an online training program have been removed, and we are now able to offer the Green Clean Institute training and certification to all cleaning services in the United States and in all countries.

It is easy for a "Green Cleaning Service" to step up to the moment by introducing a few good and Green ideas or products, but if the commitment is a short-term effort that fades after a few months, why bother?  After twenty years of promoting Serious Green Cleaning, the Green Clean Institute has not lost its vision of a Green & Health workplace.  Sadly, many one-time Green cleaning programs that made a token effort are not Green cleaning services in 2024.

One of the benefits for all GCI certified firms is a high-impact listing on our Best Janitoral Directory.  This website has been online for more than a decade and now ranks high on the Google search engines for all states.  In the SEO industry, this is referred to SEO juice that allows any cleaning service to get a BIG BOOST from our search engine prowess.