August 29, 2007—A collaboration between the Green Cleaning Network, Healthy Schools Campaign, and American School & University (AS&U) magazine has just launched the first Green Cleaning Award for Schools and Universities.
Modeled after [ital]AS&U’s[unital] highly successful Architectural Portfolio Awards Program, this new award offers an opportunity for janitorial product manufacturers, distributors, and service providers to help their customers in educational institutions gain recognition for exemplary Green Cleaning programs.
“The goal of the award is to identify and recognize schools and universities that have gone beyond simply making Green product choices,” said Steve Ashkin, Executive Director of the Green Cleaning Network. “Although products are important, exemplary programs go much further—they include policies, procedures, training, shared responsibility, and other efforts that result in an effective cleaning program that minimizes harmful impacts on the health of building occupants and custodians, and on the environment as a whole.”
The criteria for the award are modeled on The Quick and Easy Guide to Green Cleaning in Schools, published by the Healthy Schools Campaign. Copies of this comprehensive guidebook can be requested by visiting the HSC Web site.
The competition is open to all types and sizes of education institutions. The application process is simple and may be completed either online or by mail or fax. Entrants must identify what makes their program truly innovative by responding to a series of short questions, the majority of which require a written response in less than 300 words.
Award winners will be profiled in the December issue of American School & University magazine. The organizers say that the magazine’s more than 65,000 subscribers will learn about the winning team’s accomplishments and hopefully emulate their practices. The deadline for submissions is mid-September. For more information or to apply, visit the AS&U Web site.
