Totally Green


Totally Green…Totally Clean is purposely designed to be the most green floor maintenance cleaning company in existence.  We have the smallest carbon footprint of any national company.

We are Green in 4 Different Ways:

#1.   With Our Cleaning Products

TGTC utilizes safe cleaning products certified by the United States Environmental Protection Agencies Designed for the Environment Program.  Please see “What is Green” below for more details.

#2.   With our Method of Cleaning

TGTC uses non polluting electric equipment instead of polluting truck mounted gas operated equipment that is mainly for the convenience of the carpet cleaner so they can do more jobs faster.

#3.   With our Method of Delivery

           TGTC does not use gas guzzling huge vans.  Because we don’t have the heavy carbon belching truck mounts, that other non-green carpet cleaners use, we can drive fuel efficient, gas sipping delivery vehicles, like the Ford Transit Connect and the Toyota Scion xB.  How could we say that we are Totally Green if we didn’t consider this important aspect of our service.

#4.  With Everything Else

TGTC owners are fanatics about being green in their business as well as their personal lives.  We use recycled bottles, recycled paper, we belong to organizations that promote Green Living.  We don’t want to put on a show but be hypocritical in other areas of our business and personal lives.  We are always on the look out for ways to improve in this area.  If you see something that we can do to improve, don’t hesitate to tell us.

What is ‘Green’?

It is generally accepted that the word ‘Green’ when used to promote a product or service means that the product or service is not harmful to the environment, or to people or animals and that if a product, reverts back to a natural state in an acceptable time frame.  There is much confusion today as to what is truly ‘Green’.  This is caused by a lack of an international or even a national standard of what is truly ‘Green’.  So much so that the US Environmental Protection Agency has deemed the term, ‘Environmentally Friendly’ as language that is useless in determining if a product or service is ‘Green’ because of its ambiguity.

What about ‘Natural’ and ‘Organic’?  These words also can be misleading.  Everything natural or organic is not necessarily good for us.  Substances like lead, arsenic, even asbestos, are naturally occurring raw materials that are not good and in fact are harmful to human health.   A good example of this in the carpet cleaning industry is D-Limonene, which is basically oil made from the skins of oranges.  This product was once labeled as a potential carcinogen but that has been removed, still, insufficient testing has been done on this product according to the EPA to determine if there are any significant health risks1.

Current Carpet Cleaning Chemicals

Carpet cleaners can contain perchloroethylene, a known human carcinogen which can have immediate central nervous system (CNS) effects including dizziness, sleepiness, nausea, tremors and disorientation as well as long term CNS effects. Napthalene, which the Condensed Chemical Dictionary describes as “toxic by inhalation” is another common ingredient. Carpet cleaners may also include butyl cellosolve, a central nervous system toxin, propylene glycol methyl ether which is an eye, skin and respiratory irritant, aliphatic petroleum solvent which is neurotoxic and isopropyl alcohol which is carcinogenic at high concentrations. They may also include detergents which can irritate skin, the carcinogen1,4-dioxane, ethanol, ammonia and fragrances. In areas where there is a large quantity of carpet, the amount of chemicals released from carpet cleaners and deodorizers can be considerable.

What about Totally Green…Totally Cleans cleaning products?

What we have done is to develop products that don’t rely on solvents to clean with.  We have submitted these products to the United States Environmental Protection Agency for testing for safety to humans, animals and the environment.  Through their “Designed For the Environment” DfE program.  Please see the tab EPA DfE for more information.

Totally Honest and Transparent

Are all of the products utilized by Totally Green…Totally Clean certified by the EPA DfE?  No.  Only our main cleaning products that we use to clean large areas of carpet are.

Why?

There are spots and stains that require specialized products that there are currently no totally green products available to work with, such as lip stick, grease, paint and other solvent based spots and stains.  We do look for the most environmentally friendly, eco-sustainable products we can find for these purposes.  They are used for the most part on very small spots and are thoroughly rinsed after they do their work.  If we have to utilize such a product on in your home, we will first apprise you of the situation and allow you to make the final decision.  Of course, with out some of these products it may not be possible to remove the offending spot or stain.  At any rate, you are in control of the situation.

 D-Limonene (CASRN 5989-27-5)  www.epa.gov/IRIS/subst/0682.htm