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The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS) is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance.

Reporting Tool
Overall Rating Expired
Overall Score Expired
Liaison Kimberly Williams
Submission Date May 14, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.2

George Washington University
OP-11: Cleaning Products Purchasing

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete Expired Mark Ellis
Sustainability Project Facilitator
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have an institution-wide stated preference to purchase Green Seal (tm) or EcoLogo (tm) certified cleaning products?:
Yes

The website URL where the green cleaning product purchasing policy, directive, or guidelines are posted:
http://www.aramark.com/PressContent.aspx?id=1218

A brief description of steps the institution has taken to ensure that the purchasing policy, directives, or guidelines are followed:

George Washington University has contracted its housekeeping management through ARAMARK as its primary housekeeping service manager. As part of this contract ARAMARK exclusively uses Green Seal certified cleaning practices, which have been used on campus for more than five years.

GW and ARAMARK are in the process of transitioning all of its purchased cleaning products used on campus to "blue cleaning" products that substitute electrically activated water (EAW) for chemicals used previously in its green products. Please refer to the link above to learn more about ARAMARK's blue cleaning program, and the health and environmental benefits it offers beyond those of existing green cleaning products. Additional links are provided below on the specific blue cleaning technology implemented to date on GW campuses.

In FY13, we made our most significant investment in using blue cleaning EAW solutions in lieu of Green Seal, chemical-based cleaning products. To date GW has installed 6 Orbio machines (http://www.tennantco.com/am-en/equipment/innovations/innovations/5000-sc) and 20+ ec-H20 machines (http://www.tennantco.com/am-en/equipment/Innovations/Technology/ec-h2o) to process tap water into a electrically charged blue cleaning water solution. In addition, GW implemented microfiber cleaning at its Mt. Vernon and Virginia campuses to cut down on use of chemicals and paper-based cleaning cloths/towels. Such measures have reduced GW's total expenditures on cleaning products by more than $15,000 (%35%) relative to FY12.


Does the institution wish to pursue points for Part 2 of this credit (expenditures on cleaning products)?:
Yes

Expenditures on Green Seal and/or EcoLogo certified cleaning products :
27,571 US/Canadian $

Total expenditures on cleaning products :
27,571 US/Canadian $

A copy of the sections of the cleaning contract(s) that reference certified green products:
Aramark Cleaning Contract.pdf

Data source(s) and notes about the submission

This initiative directly impacts goals and targets set forth in The George Washington Ecosystems Enhancement Strategy, which was released November 2012. This Strategy calls for the university to source products that reduce the impact on biodiversity, climate and water. As a large urban university, GW purchases a significant volume of products to support its faculty, staff and student community. Sourcing raw material inputs, processing and manufacturing paper and transporting it to GW impacts natural, human and economic capital on a global scale.

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution and complete the Data Inquiry Form.