President Phases In Order To Reduce Greenhouse Gas
Cleanlink News August 4, 2010 - Key portions of Executive Order 13514, which was signed by President Obama in October 2009, are now being phased in. The order requires the federal government to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from indirect sources, such as employee travel and commuting, by 13 percent by 2010. Read more.
If you did not have a chance to participate in the Webinar on the Green Cleaning Award for Schools & Universitieswith Mark Bishop from the Healthy Schools Campaign and Steve Ashkin on Tuesday, August 10, please feel welcome to download our webinar presentation.
And please contact us if you have any questions about the application or the award itself!
The Sustainability Dashboard has created a Tool that will help companies transform from green to sustainable.
Steve Ashkin
President
Stephen Ashkin is well known throughout the professional cleaning, education, healthcare, and building-management industries as the "Father of Green Cleaning." He has played a pivotal role in setting industry standards, promoting environmentally preferable products, and advocating for socially responsible practices.
Ashkin has worked professionally in the cleaning industry since 1981; and on the issue of green cleaning since 1990. He is not only President of The Ashkin Group, but also Executive Director of the Green Cleaning Network - both based in Bloomington, Indiana. He is the coauthor of The Business of Green Cleaning and Green Cleaning for Dummies.
David Holly
Senior Project Manager
David Holly is the President of Don't Panic Producttions, Inc, a video and multi-media production company providing services to the maintenance industry. His 25 years of industry experience include: Vice President of a regional BSC, Director of Sales & Marketing for S.C. Johnson Professional, and Marketing Director for Multi-Clean.
Jeff Pease
A graduate of Indiana University with an MBA in Business Analysis, Mr. Pease has over 20 years of experience in Sales & Marketing leadership roles.
In his current role with The Ashkin Group as Senior Project Manager, Jeff assists distributors, manufacturers and end-users adopt comprehensive approaches to selling, marketing and launching Green Cleaning programs that reduce negative environmental impacts while improving the health and well being of facility occupants and custodial workers.
Robert Kravitz
Public Relations Manager
Robert Kravitz has owned three contract cleaning companies in Northern California over a 30-year period. In 1998 he authored two books on the professional cleaning industry. Because few publishers are interested in publishing books on the cleaning industry, he self-published the books and marketed them using various cleaning-related message boards, which were just gainin popularity at the time.
Eventually the books -- and the marketing -- led to a job in New York City for a cleaning-focused Internet portal, providing Web sites, content, and information for janitorial distributors. He also became a company spokesperson for the firm, which allowed him to give presentations on the industry to all kinds of groups and organizations.
In 2000, ISSA (formerly known as the International Sanitary and Supply Association) hired him to be Web content manager. A 6-month employee agreement turned into 18 months. By 2002, he started his own communications firm, AlturaSolutions Communications, which works specifically with manufacturers, organizations, and companies in the professional cleaning industry.
Elizabeth Crosbie
Marketing & New Media Manager
Elizabeth Crosbie will have an MS in Immersive Mediated Enviironments from the Indiana University Department of Telecommunications in August 2010. She also holds a BA in Journalism with a concentration in public relations from Indiana University. Elizabeth assists with marketing communications and new media design & developiment for The Ashkin Group.
Welcome to The Ashkin Group. We truly appreciate your interest in our company and in the importance of Green Cleaning. The goal of our company is to help you and educate you on the latest in Green Cleaning practices, products, and policies.
As this is a watershed time in "green," and by being leaders in the Green Cleaning industry, we feel it is our responsibility to provide you with the latest news and resources you need to implement or improve your Green Cleaning practices.
We have become an internationally recognized consulting firm working to green the cleaning industry. Our expertise is utilized by governments, legislators and policy makers, advocates, building owners and property managment companies, labor unions, trade and professional associations, manufacturers, service providers, and janitorial product distributors to develop more sustainable cleaning practices around the world.
We are dedicated to creating healthier, more productive indoor environments with lower burdens on natural systems, while creating sustainable value for its clients.
Our commitment to Green Cleaning is more than business, it is a passion, a calling, a mission in life - to transform the cleaning industry.
Issues surrounding the quality of the indoor environment are hot topics. We can help you meet the challenge, whether improving the situation in your organization, developing a new strategy to serve your customers with improved procedures, or beginning with a complete assessment of your situation, we offer a diverse set of services. The Ashkin Group works with a variety of parties to bring world class expertise and resources to address your issues.
Some of our services are listed here. Please contact us if you would like our help as you continue to be the difference in your organization. Together we are making a difference at a time when the world needs us to succeed.
The Ashkin Group not only wants to make a difference "greening" the cleaning industry, but also to become a model by which other sectors can be motivated and guided.
We are in the position to be as Mohandas Gandhi once instructed "...be the change (we) wish to see in the world."
The cleaning industry is making great strides in improving the health and safety of building occupants, the people who provide these services and the environment.
We recognize our potential impacts on people and the environment and have taken significant steps to reduce and minimize these impacts.
We want to help you improve your health and environmental impacts, whether you are a facility manager, school administrator, health care administrator, or a home owner.
Facility Managers
School Administrators
Cleaning Professionals
Home Owners
Health Care Professionals
The latest in Green Cleaning practices, products, and policies.
July 2010
August 2010
Cleanlink News August 4, 2010 - Key portions of Executive Order 13514, which was signed by President Obama in October 2009, are now being phased in. The order requires the federal government to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from indirect sources, such as employee travel and commuting, by 13 percent by 2010.* The order also expands the Administrations greenhouse gas reduction targets from direct sources, such as automobiles and buildings owned or operated by the federal government, which were set in January 2010. Read more.
We have created this page on "curiosities" as a place for enlightening, and even unusal, articles, videos, games, and other fun, and even controversial, "stuff."
As leaders in the Green Cleaning industry, we believe part of our role is to provide a safe place for discussion surrounding green cleaning, even when it is difficult or even when we fundamentally disagree on issues.
Thus, these curiosities do not necessarily represent the views of The Ashkin Group. Rather, our goal is to simply shine a light on even the most controversial issues and to never lose sight of our mission --- to green the cleaning industry.
If you have any questions regarding Green Cleaning or any of our services, please feel welcome to contact us by phone or email.
Steve Ashkin: steveashkin_ashkingroup.com
The Ashkin Group
3644 Tamarron Drive
Bloomington, IN 47408
(812) 332-7950
David Holly: davidholly_ashkingroup.com
Jeff Pease: jeffpease_ashkingroup.com
Contact Form:
The Ashkin Group is dedicated to disseminating information to those who can positively impact the indoor environment. Stephen Ashkin is a prolific speaker and writer on the topic of greening the Indoor Environment and minimizing the cleaning industry's impact on health and the environment in general.
The Ashkin Group regularly conducts the High Performance Healthy Cleaning Workshiop. This workshop is designed to provide the background, details, and steps to meet the certification requirements for the LEED program. Participants will understand the impact cleaning has on the environment - both indoor and outdoor, the importance of a Green Cleaning program to building owners and managers, how to develop and implement a green program, and how to submit a program for LEED certification. Please contact us for workshop schedules and more information.
In this section you will find a growing list of articles and presentations related to Green Cleaning and building management. Please check back frequently as we will continually add more.
Resources:
Our children spend a great deal of time inside schools everyday. This environment can have a significant impact on their ability to learn, their attitude, their lives in general. How the faciility is maintained, the general cleanliness, and the products, equipment, and procedures used in maintenance are critical factors in this equation.
In this section, you will find a growing list of articles and presentations related to Green Cleaning and the educational environment.
In the effort to "green" existing buildings, building maintenance professionals are often on the line, fighting design limitations, toxic materials introduced from the outside environment as well as from furnishings and decorative materials inside the building, heavy traffic, tight budgets, and chemical manufacturers that don't understand the issues.
Whether you manage an in-house staff or are a contractor, we can help you identify the issues, develop a strategy for success, and most importantly, implement that strategy to realize success in improving the quality of the indoor environments in your customers' facilities. We can help you meet your customers' demands for healthier buildings using environmentally preferable products, equipment, and systems.
Please contact us for more information about our services tailored for your profession and don't forget to sign up for our DestinationGreen, the only newsletter dedicated to helping salespeople in the cleaning industry understand the issues surrounding Green Cleaning so they can better serve the needs of their customers.
Did you know that the EPA has determined that the air inside your home may be two to five times more polluted than the air outside? Dust, pollen, mold, bacteria, toxic chemicals --- your family may be living in a fog of pollution.
However, with a few simple tips and minor changes to your cleaning products and routines, you could make a dramatic and positive impact on the healthy of your home and your family.
We can help you learn more about the very simple and effective methods to improve the cleanlieness and the health of your home. Please contact us for details, and visit us frequently for tips, caustions, and suggestions as well as links to other sources for improving the environment closest to you and your family - your home.
The Ashkin Group is dedicated to disseminating information to those who can positively impact the indoor environment. Stephen Ashkin is a prolific speaker and writer on the topic of Greening the Indoor Environment and minimizing the cleaning industry's impact on health and the environment in general.
The Ashkin Group regularly conducts the High Performance Healthy Cleaning Workshiop. This workshop is designed to provide the background, details, and steps to meet the certification requirements for the LEED program. Participants will understand the impact cleaning has on the environment - both built and outdoor - the importance of a Green Cleaning program to building owners and managers, how to develop and implement a green program, and how to submit a program for LEED certification. Please contact us for workshop schedules and more information.
Free one hour Webinar, Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. ET, on the Green Cleaning Award for Schools & Universities
Schools are one place where green cleaning products, equipment and procedures can have far-reaching impacts, not only now but for the long-term, given that our children are our link to the future. The Green Cleaning Award for Schools & Universities offers a chance to recognize your school's Green Cleaning program. In addition to the award, winners will receive national recognition with a glossy, full-color two-page spread in American School & University magazine.
For those in schools and universties, you can directy apply. And for those working for distributors, contractors and others, you can fill out the application for your customers as this is really a team award - that's right, you will be recognized for your contributions as well, because we know that they typically can not do it with out you! And even if you do not win, it is a good opportunity to evaluate where the program is and to identify opportunities for improvement.
Please accept our personal invitation to join Mark Biship from the Healthy Schools Campaign and Steve Ashkin for a speical FREE one hour Webinar on Tuesday, August 10th at 2:00 p.m. ET on the Green Cleaning Award for Schools & Universities. Mark and Steve will make it easty to complete the application as well as provide practical and helpful tips about the award. Register today!
Green Cleaning Award for Schools and Universities
The Healthy Schools Campaign and the Green Cleaning Network are once again recognizing educational institutions with the Green Cleaning Award for Schools and Universities. Please consider nominating one of your schools or universities by submitting an application.
Application: Green Cleaning Award for Schools and Universities
DesitinationGreen July 2010
Check out this month's issue of DestinationGreen, the only industry newsletter dedicated to helping salespeople understand the issues surrounding Green Cleaning so they can better serve the needs of their customers
SIGN UP FOR DestinatinGreen
Cleanlink News August 4, 2010 - Key portions of Executive Order 13514, which was signed by President Obama in October 2009, are now being phased in. The order requires the federal government to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from indirect sources, such as employee travel and commuting, by 13 percent by 2010.* The order also expands the Administrations greenhouse gas reduction targets from direct sources, such as automobiles and buildings owned or operated by the federal government, which were set in January 2010.
The federal government owns or manages nearly 500,000 buildings worldwide, pays more than $25 billion in utility and fuel bills every year, and employs two million people. Cumulatively, with both programs in place, reductions from federal government operations are hoped to eliminate 101 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent to the emissions generated from 235 million barrels of oil.
According to the President, every year the federal government consumes more energy than any single organization or company in the United States. The government has a responsibility to use energy wisely, to reduce consumption, improve efficiency, use renewable energy, and cut costs, he said.
However, Stephen Ashkin, CEO of Sustainable Dashboard Tool, LLC, says that the order does not specify exactly how these reductions will be determined and measured. In fact, Federal officials admit measurements of some key portions of the Order are dependent on the voluntary partnership of government workers. Ashkin says that measuring the use of natural resources can be complicated. Fortunately, more tools and dashboard systems are now being introduced that can help the federal government as well as other organizations and businesses monitor their use of natural resources.
Without a tool or dashboard system in place to benchmark and monitor the use of fuel and other resources, many managers can only guessand hope that they are making significant reductions, Ashkin says.
Safer Chemicals Healthy Families put together a funny, but effective video to galvanize support for Congressional action on the very serious issue of toxic chemicals.
We agree that some ingredients are toxic to human health and the environment. And these should definitely be replaced by safer and healthier ingredients, especially considering there are now many greener alternatives available. However, the Toxic Chemicals Lobby video uses these examples of legitimately toxix ingredients to suggest that the entire industry is corrupt and part of an evil conspiracy.
We belive this an overly simplistic generalization designed to demonize an entire industry and uses anger and outrage to motivate people to action.
While there clearly are some bad ingredients and even some bad companies, the vast majority of the cleaning industry does extraordinarily good things and plays an essential role in protecting human health and the environment. We oppose any form of inflammatory rhetoric about the cleaning industry, because we it does not help us solve the important problems that confront us.
Cosmetics might make people look more attractive, but the ingredients in many personal care products do not add up to a very pretty picture, according to a new video by Annie Leonard, a proponent of sustainability and creator of The Story of Stuff about the life-cycle of material goods.
Leonard's message: the cosmetics industry is unregulated. The Federal Drug Administration doesnt test the safety of personal care products. It doesnt even require that all of the ingredients be listed on the label. And that can make for cosmetics that can have some pretty nasty ingredients, she says.
Chemicals in certain lipsticks, sunscreens and even baby shampoos are sometimes linked to cancer, learning disabilities, asthma, allergies, and even hormone disruptions, studies have shown. A 2008 study from the Environmental Working Group found that adolescent girls were contaminated with chemicals like phthalates, parabens, musks and triclosan that are all linked to cancer and hormone disruption. Early research suggests that teens are especially vulnerable to even low levels of hormones because their bodies are already undergoing complex hormonal changes of puberty and early adulthood.
Read more.
Did you know that the lemon-fresh smell or pine forest scent in your favorite cleaner may be linked to serious health impacts?
Womens Voices for the Earth (WVE) recently released Whats That Smell?, a compilation of research that supports WVEs call for greater regulation of cleaning products, air fresheners and other consumer products containing fragrances and the associated health impacts of chemicals used in the manufacture of those products.
Please see What's That Smell? - Women's Voices for the Earth for the report, executive summary and other materials.
Find out how your everyday purchasing decisions can impact the environment, the economy and your health in this Governor's Green Government Council 15-minute video produced by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
It includes several PA green purchasing luminaries and green purchasing experts.
