Monday, July 9, 2012

The Difference Between Green And Sustainability

This article was originally published by Housekeeping Solutions.

The words sustainable and green are often used interchangeably. But being "green" and being "sustainable" is not the same thing.

The federal government defines green as "products and services that reduce health and environmental impacts compared to similar products and services used for the same purpose," says Steve Ashkin, president of The Ashkin Group and chairman of the Sustainability Dashboard.

Sustainability, on the other hand, can be represented with a three-legged stool having a leg for environmental, social and financial responsibility, according to Jim Newman, owner of Newman Consulting Group.

"With green, our consideration about people and staff is limited to direct exposures from products or services," says Ashkin. "Sustainability is a much broader term that talks about the implications of those products and services used over a much longer period of time, and considers social and financial impacts as well."

So what does this mean to custodial operations? It means they must define their green/sustainability goals, implement these changes and then measure their success.

Read the full article here, or learn how Advance defines green cleaning


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