Clean With Green

CMHA is committed to the ideals of sustainability... reuse, recycle, respect, reduce, and rethink. Rethinking how we do things is critical in moving CMHA to being an organization that can truly say it has embraced the ideals of sustainability.

Earlier in 2008, one of our suppliers, State Industrial Products asked us to review what types of cleaning chemicals our maintenance staff was using for windows, floors, bathrooms, and general purpose cleaning.

We found that a wide array of bleaches, soaps, abrasives, and caustic solutions were in use. State Industrial Products suggested that we rethink our process and consider replacing all those many cleaners with a line of environmentally-friendly and cost-effective concentrated cleaners called “Ecolution”.

We agreed and piloted State Industrial Products' Ecolution system at our Executive offices, Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) administrative offices, and three of our high-rise residential buildings.

Because these new products are formulated with no petroleum-based solvents, and contain biodegradable ingredients, they are safer and less corrosive.  Moreover, they lessen the occurrence of skin and eye irritations for those who use the products and create a healthier environment for our residents. Lastly, these concentrated formulas are cost-effective, reduce waste, and they eliminate costly packaging.

It was determined that the Ecolution systems worked as well as or better than the traditional cleaners, CMHA is now installing the Ecolution system at most of our high-rise buildings and administrative offices.

CMHA management and maintenance staffs attended a presentation about the Ecolution cleaning system at State Industrial Products.
Rob Litz, State Industrial Products Sales Associate begins installation of an Ecolution system.	Ecolution product concentrate containers being installed.
Completed installation of concentrate containers, piping, and the Ecolution proportioning station which automatically mixes the concentrate solutions with water for use in spray bottles or for the mop buckets.	Ecolution system is in use at our Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) administrative building.   The two ladies pictured above (left Yvonne Salter and Connie Smith right) have used the products for a few weeks and are very satisfied with their effectiveness. But moreover, they appreciate that these products do not have a strong odor, and do not irritate their skin or eyes.