Green Seal

Long-Term Living Editor Maureen Hrehocik asked Mark Petruzzi, Green Seal’s vice president of certification and strategic relations, to discuss the Green Seal certification program and what it can mean to long-term care facility operators. Besides environmental friendliness, Green Seal products protect residents and workers from annoying odors and possibly harmful fumes, add longevity to surfaces such as flooring and upholstery and, according to Petruzzi, can save money in the long run. What is Green Seal? Now in its 21st year, it is a science-based, national nonprofit organization. It uses its science programs to create a more sustainable marketplace. The organization has a number of different programs and outreach, but its most visible are environmental standards and the certification of products and services.

Hrehocik: What does Green Seal certification mean?

Petruzzi: Certification reassures purchasers that a not-for-profit, trusted, science-based third party has evaluated a product or service against a whole list of life-cycle-based criteria and determined that yes, it is everything that the manufacturer says it is. With Green Seal certification, it’s not just the company saying “Buy our product, it’s green.” They have a third-party assurance that it is, in fact, an environmentally responsible cleaning product and not just on a single requirement-type basis; it’s not just a biodegradable cleaner, it also has reduced human toxicity, emissions, isn’t toxic to aquatic life, it’s packaged in responsible packaging, has correct instructions for use and dilution, and at the end of its life has reduced disposal recycling impact. A product or service has to meet 15 or 20 criteria in most of our standards for that product to receive certification. We’re still seeing products that are touting their recycled content or just having biodegradable properties and not taking that broader, more holistic, life-cycle-based approach.

Hrehocik: How do you develop your criteria and standards?

Petruzzi: We are an accredited standards developer by the American National Standards Institute. All that really means is we follow a very open, nonsecretive process. We welcome and acquire participation from a wide range of stakeholders: the companies that make the products, the government agencies that rate them, environmental groups, academic experts, and the purchasers who buy and use the products. We actively encourage and solicit their participation. And there are numerous opportunities and rounds for public comment. We say here’s what the research says we’ve done, here’s what we are proposing-these 20 criteria identify a green paint or a green cleaner, and we seek their comments. We then actually respond in writing to all the comments we receive. Everything has to be transparent, stakeholder-based, and science-based so it’s just not just Green Seal opinion. In fact, it is supported by lifecycle research in the technical work that we do. The process, on average, takes about a year from start to finish. It’s not a quick process. At the end, you have a standard that stands up to heavy scrutiny from industry and that really can stand on its own and can justify the 15 or 20 attributes that can designate an environmentally responsible product at this moment in today’s marketplace. If the process gets critiqued (after certification), that takes away from the message and our goal as a mission-based organization.

Hrehocik: Do you have certifications specifically for the long-term care field?

Petruzzi: We don’t. If you’re familiar with the Green Guide for Health Care, there are a number of Green Seal standards for janitorial products that are referenced. Many healthcare facilities had the notion that one had to use a disinfectant each and every time anything is cleaned. There’s been a much-needed evolution in that there are areas of healthcare facilities that can be cleaned using a non-FIFRA (Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act) registered general purpose cleaner or a non-FIFRA registered floor cleaner.

You triage your areas based on patient contact, risk of infection, things like that and use those registered products where appropriate, where required by law or code. You don’t necessarily have to use products that have active ingredients designed to kill living things in the form of registered pesticides and you don’t need to clean every surface with those products. Use them more judiciously and when you do use them, use them appropriately. In some cases people see “disinfectant” on the label, and they spray it and wipe. It’s what you do with a regular cleaner. But if you read the label on that product, it says first clean the surface and remove the dirt, then come back and spray it and leave it wet for a designated period of time. If you’re not using that disinfectant properly, you’re not getting its benefits and you might as well just use a general purpose cleaner.

We do have a number of Green Seal-certified products that are not FIFRA registered because, to date, EPA has not wanted environmental certifications to be part of its FIFRA registration process. That may change over time, but the current paradigm is if it is an EPA-registered product-fungicide, mildewcide, disinfectant, anything under FIFRA-you cannot have a Green Seal certification on those products. EPA won’t allow it. What you see in most janitorial carts more is that more and more purchasers are moving toward having a Green Seal-certified glass cleaner, a Green Seal-certified general cleaner, a restroom cleaner, a disinfectant. They’ve gone for green products in every category where we have standards and are able to certify those types of products-even things like hand soaps.

There are certain places in the facility that don’t have to have antimicrobial hand soap and others that may have to have it to comply with code and health restrictions. Be thinking about these things and move away from the mind-set of “we’re a healthcare facility therefore we have to use registered disinfectants and antimicrobial products everywhere” because there are certainly repercussions in not using those products. If you’re not required to have an antimicrobial hand soap, you can certainly mitigate the environmental impact by not having it. Stop and think about what products are used, where they’re used, and then more importantly, how they’re being used. This is an area where the Green Guide for Health Care and other recommendations have really done a good job of educating people. I use the stoplight example: red, yellow, green. Red-there are some areas you can use nonregistered products all the time. Yellow-let’s think about it; maybe we have to use some but not all. Then green-places where they must be used such as patient care rooms. Those definitely need to have the appropriate product.

There’s an expense, too. The registered products and the disinfectants tend to be more expensive because of their nature, so if you could use a general purpose cleaner and still be cleaning the facility and maintaining its appearance, and not putting any public health risks out there, why wouldn’t we do that? There’s an economic savings as well as a health and environmental benefit.

Hrehocik: Why would an LTC facility want Green Seal-certified products being used?

Petruzzi: There used to be two very distinct camps of advocates. A lot of people worried about public health, people with chemical sensitivities, and kids and adults with asthma. On the other side, you had the environmentalists worried about release of toxic substances into the rivers and the cutting down of trees. In the last 10 years, there has really been a cross-pollination of those two groups-realizing that products that are better for the planet also tend to be better for people. If I can paint during business hours and not have to wait until after 5 p.m. because of fumes and odors, I don’t have to pay overtime. I can reduce the complaints of the residents. We want the only thought they have when they pass something newly painted is “Wow, that looks great,” and not think about the fumes and odors. You’ve eliminated a whole category of dissatisfaction; you’ve eliminated the chemical reaction from people who might be sensitive to fumes and you’ve eliminated the complaints. At the same time, the paint is a water-based product and has fewer chemicals that may be of concern, so it’s a product that wins for the environment, wins for the building, and wins for the occupants of the building. Using a Green Seal-certified paint has a number of benefits even if you’re only purely concerned about the financial aspects. If the paint smells, if the stuff they’re mopping the floors with smells, the residents will certainly let management know about it.

You’re also benefitting the workers who do the cleaning by using Green Seal-certified products. They’re happier, more productive, not getting rashes, and not calling in sick because they hate smelling the fumes. Green Seal-certified cleaning products can also preserve the longevity of materials. Using products that get vinyl flooring and carpeting clean without doing so in a more harsh way may mean you get a few more months or years out of those surfaces. So there’s benefit to the facility in terms of depreciation and replacement. Again, the residents are not exposed to fumes and chemicals. More importantly from an ethical viewpoint, the folks doing the cleaning are not being exposed to chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity or other things that may not show up today or tomorrow, but over a period of months or years of exposure. It shows you care about your employees. If there are alternatives to those things that clean the floors and the mirrors just as effectively but don’t contain a lot of potentially harmful ingredients, why would we ask those people to use products we would never use in our own house?

It’s been a fascinating time because there are so many benefits. It’s not just about the environment. If these products don’t cost any more and they will do the job and function just as well as the conventional product they’re replacing and you add up all the attributes that are difficult to quantify in terms of dollars-such as happier workers who don’t call in sick-it’s a win-win situation. The turnover is pretty high in the janitorial occupation; same thing among housekeeping staff. If they’re not leaving because of the products they’re being exposed to at work that’s one less thing that could be pushing them out the door. If you get people who are happier about their job, they’re more likely to do the cleaning you’re asking them to do. Having fewer hazardous materials stored means there’s less liability and less inventory in a locked cabinet, not to mention accidental exposure. Vulnerable populations need special consideration. Residents are more frail and take longer to heal. This is the first group of people we should be using environmentally responsible products around.

Hrehocik: What type of products should LTC communities look for?

Petruzzi: There’s no real limit to the types of green purchasing long-term care facilities can do. The consumables tend to be pretty good to take a look at because the facility is buying these on a regular basis-the cleaning products, the toilet paper, facial tissue, paper towels, vacuums, industrial supplies, and also the lighting. Even in older buildings, administrators may have switched to more efficient lighting than incandescent bulbs, but anytime they’re doing building maintenance or updating the facility, then consider green purchasing and items that are more efficient. It may have a higher cost initially, but it will save money over the long haul. Long-term care facilities are not usually swimming in large volumes of excess cash, so we’re seeing a lot of that just in the past year or two with the economic situation. If you can do something that saves energy and water, and benefits the bottom line, but also benefits the environment, these are great opportunities. There may be durable, reusable, or better ways to do things that have economic benefits as well as all the environmental ones.

Then don’t be afraid to communicate those benefits to your residents, their families, and visitors. “Here’s what we’re doing, and here’s how many kilowatt hours we’re saving with our new light bulbs.” The folks that are in long-term care facilities come from a generation that remembers what it was like to save. There’s a lot of good PR benefits that will generate goodwill within the community, as well as showing investors and anyone else involved that you are maintaining the facility and not putting anyone’s health at risk.

Fragrance is another issue. We have this idea that if it doesn’t smell like citrus or cherries it isn’t clean. I always pose this scenario: You walk into a restroom and say, “Hey, it smells like citrus in here, it must be clean.” How do you know someone didn’t just come in and spray an air freshener? That smell of clean does not mean that restroom has been cleaned effectively.

Editor’s note: To view the 15 certification areas and find out more about Green Seal, visit https://www.greenseal.org.

Long-Term Living 2010 July;59(7):18-22