George Boutsalis is a lifetime cleaning enthusiast and the president of Impact Cleaning Services, which has been in business in Toronto for 70 years. In this Q&A, George shares how he became passionate about green cleaning and goes into detail about what eco-friendly products the company uses to complete their commercial projects.
What inspired you to get into green cleaning and how long have you been doing it?
Impact was an early adopter of green cleaning products and practices. This goes back almost 20 years, but we really leaned into being a green first company in 2012, when we achieved our Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) Green Building Certification.
This is the gold standard of green certifications in the commercial cleaning industry, and to achieve it, a company must do the vast majority of their cleaning with green and eco-friendly products.
How do you define green cleaning and how does that show up in your day-to-day work?
At Impact, green cleaning means more than just buying eco-friendly products. It’s a holistic approach for us. It’s easy to greenwash any company, so we aim to be the most sustainable cleaning company in Canada.
Besides using green products, we also focus on our waste diversion rates, the batteries we use in our equipment and the emissions that come out of our vehicle fleet. We constantly scrutinize everything we do and ask ourselves, “How can we reduce our carbon footprint further?”
What do you feel are the greatest benefits for the client and the environment from cleaning this way?
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We view our approach as driving three key benefits. The first is that our clients and their buildings’ occupants can feel at ease knowing that all the products we use are safe and of the highest quality. Second, by only using green ECOLOGO products, we aren’t putting harmful contaminants into the environment and water supply.
Finally, by being an early adopter of green and sustainable practices, it demonstrates to our clients and partners that we’re not a company that’s just in this business to make money. We love what we do, so we want to do it the right way and ensure we’re being innovative partners and great stewards to our environment.
What types of cleaning products do you use, and how are they different from traditional ones?
Our entire line of cleaning products are Green Seal and ECOLOGO certified. The major way they differ from traditional cleaning products is that they’re non-corrosive and they emit minimal odours. This ensures that they’re not harmful to humans or the environments and ecosystems we touch.
How do you handle tough jobs (for instance, removing mould or grease) without using harsh chemicals?
Naturally, handling tough jobs is much easier when you can clean with harsher chemicals. But our belief is that the easy way usually isn’t the best way. While we’d love to tell you how we handle tough jobs, we can’t give away all our secret recipes.
The work does take a little longer without harsh chemicals, but for us, it’s still the right way to do it. By refraining from using those chemicals, we’re doing what’s best for our people, our properties and the environment over the long term.
Do you find ways to reduce water use, energy use and waste during cleaning?
Yes, we’re always trying to reduce our carbon footprint. One of the projects we’re currently working on is developing a Path to Net Zero by 2030. As you can imagine, for a company of our size with so many nodes, this is a massive undertaking. But we focus on little wins wherever we can find them.
Reducing water use is usually an easy one to make improvements on. We work with our supplies to make sure we always have the best and most efficient dispensing systems. For energy use reduction, we work with our clients to augment services so we can turn out the lights at EasyProperties sooner. On the waste side, we partner with properties to improve their waste diversions. Over the past decade, one of our longtime clients has consistently achieved a 99 percent waste diversion rate!
Can you customize your cleaning based on allergies or chemical sensitivities?
Absolutely! Most of the products we use today are odourless. I love the fresh smell that lingers in the air after cleaning, but we know there are a lot of people who don’t, either due to allergies or because they find it distracting. So we decided to default to scent-free, and if a client prefers to have a scent, we can bring in a product they prefer.
What are your future goals for sustainability in your business?
We have three big sustainability goals on the go right now. Paperless processes by 2027, a fully hybrid or electric fleet of vehicles by 2028 and our Path to Net Zero by 2030. Big undertakings, but we believe it’s our duty to keep raising the bar of what it means to be a sustainable green cleaning company.
Check out our listing for Impact Cleaning Services to find out more about the areas they serve and the green cleaning services they offer, or visit their website.
