This month’s Green Selling Tip covers the “other” chemicals not previously covered in DestinationGreen Issue 14 on green cleaners (glass, all-purpose, carpet extraction and washroom cleaners), Issue 15 on floor care and Issue 16 on disinfectants.

But before beginning, I’d like to encourage you to review DestinationGreen Issue 2; Building the Bundle. Remember, your customers (building owners & managers and contractors) are trying to create a healthy, high performing environment for the occupants of their building, while at the same time reducing environmental impacts.

Thus, I recommend more of a “program” approach (see DestinationGreen Issue 3: The Pilot Process) to assess the entire cleaning process and only then recommend specific products as part of a complete bundle or program. Not only will this be better for your customers, but it will be better for your sales and commissions.

And let’s quickly review the definition of a green or environmentally preferable product as those that “reduce the health and environmental impacts compared to similar products used for the same purpose.” Thus when you are selling green, your goal is to create a high performing building using cleaning products and processes that reduce health and environmental impacts.

So what makes these other chemicals green? Many traditional chemicals such as drain cleaners, furniture & metal polishes, concrete and other heavy-duty cleaners often have known health and environmental problems associated with them. And while there is no such thing as zero risk (everything has some potential to cause harm) but green products can reduce the potential for harm to take place.

For example, many of the traditional drain cleaners use concentrated sodium hydroxide (CAS 1310-73-2) and bleach (CAS 7681-52-9). These products are very hazardous and can permanently damage eyes and skin, can be respiratory irritants, and when mixed with other commonly used cleaning products can produce a deadly gas. And yes, people do die from this every year!

Many traditional metal and furniture polishes contain ammonia (CAS 7664-41-7) a respiratory irritant and petroleum distillates (CAS 8052-41-3) which can be toxic to the nervous system. Additionally, they frequently contain petroleum-based oils and fragrances which can have a variety of both health and environmental impacts.

A final example are heavy duty cleaner/degreasers which can contain 2-butoxyethanol (CAS 111-76-2) often referred to as “butyl” which is suspected of being a developmental, endocrine, and reproductive toxicant among other concerns as it passes through the skin and enters the body, and sodium hydroxide which raises the pH and can burn eyes and skin.

And many of these ingredients are made from petroleum -- a valuable but limited non-renewable natural resource.

As discussed in Issue 16 on disinfectants there are no third-party standards such as those from Green Seal for these products.

Thus, when selecting your green products and discussing them with your customers you’ll need to rely upon the basic definition of a green product – how to reduce the health and environmental impacts compared to the traditional product.

Thus, your strategy should be that if the product has an extreme pH and can burn eyes and skin, you’d select a greener alternative that has a more moderate pH (something closer to 7). If the product is a respiratory irritant or neurotoxicant you can replace it with something that is not. If the product is made from non-renewable natural resources you can replace them with bacteria-based products or one derived from a rapidly renewable agricultural product.

In the specific products mentioned earlier, you might consider the following:

When selling, after you point out the potential benefits, cost competitiveness and other associated issues, simply raise the question “why wouldn’t you (the customer) want to change?”

And when you add these other chemical products to the rest of your bundle, it not only will help you implement a more complete green program to future reduce health and environmental impacts, but it will help you sell a larger bundle.

Remember, Green Cleaning is coming. And because customers are going to be buying their green cleaners from someone – I’d prefer it’s from you!

Good selling.