The Cleaning Authority's Video Transcriptions

Kristy Villa: This morning we’re celebrating every shade of green when it comes to our homes and our environment.

Danielle Know: And so we are going to talk about green spring cleaning today with some experts on the subject. Tim Evankovich, President and Co-Founder of The Cleaning Authority, and Amy Charpentier, a married working mother of two children and The Cleaning Authority owner of Jacksonville, Fl. A lot on your plate my dear. Welcome to you both.

Kristy Villa: Well, spring is here and we are going to get tips today—you are going to talk to us about how we can de-clutter our homes and recycle as well. What do we need to do?

Amy Charpentier: First, start off by de-cluttering your home. Gather all those excess piles you have around the home—the schoolwork, newspapers, catalogs, all of that, most of it can be recycled (anything that has your personal information on it, be sure to shred it first). Then you can gather up all the excess toys, clothes, furniture, small appliances, even electronics that you’re not using anymore, take them down to your local thrift store or charity and donate them. Be sure to get a receipt so that you can write that off.

Kristy Villa: True, or even have a huge yard sale and make a little dough, right?

Amy Charpentier: Exactly. Those items you’re not using anymore that are worth some money: yard sale, sell them online, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.

Danielle Know: That is my motto. And Tim, as the president of a house cleaning company that actually uses green products, her is my question for you: we go ahead and de-clutter our places, you use your advise on that, where do you come in in terms of the green products and explain that to us, because a lot of people might think that using green means it probably isn’t going to be as clean as it would otherwise.

Tim Evankovich: Sure, absolutely. We use Green-sealed certified products, HEPA filter vacuums, as well as microfiber mitts. In these chemicals and processes that we are using, we are going through and getting the dust out of customers’ homes using static as opposed to chemicals.

Danielle Know: You’re a leader in the industry, which I find very impressive. You also inspect every home that you clean regularly.

Tim Evankovich: We do. We inspect most of our homes on a regular basis to make sure the detail quality is where it needs to be. That is important to not only we as a company but also our homeowners want to know that we are doing the right job in their home. And we guarantee our cleans.

Kristy Villa: I’m loving this so far, this is great! This is alleviating a lot of headaches for me. So let me ask you something else, what can Danielle and I—and women who are out there listening and watching—do to make our home more green?

Tim Evankovich: Sure, there’s some simple things you can do. First, you can change to compact fluorescent light bulbs. They last 10 times longer and are 75% more efficient, so it’s cost effective for the homeowner as well. Also, now that it’s getting warmer and dryer outside, open your windows and doors, use your ceiling fans to circulate the air through your house. It makes it cooler so you don’t have to use your air conditioning unit as frequently. Also, people don’t realize that a typical household faucet flows at about two gallons a minute. So doing simple things like shutting off the water while you are brushing your teeth or cleaning a dish in the sink, little things like that can make a huge impact to the environment.

Danielle Know: I’m shaking my head because that’s something my kids don’t do. They let the faucet run and run. And Amy, you know I’m a working mother—Kristy, you are as well—and so are you Amy, so I feel guilty hiring a cleaning service. Do you feel guilty?

Kristy Villa: No. Guilty free!

Danielle Know: So, she doesn’t feel guilty which is great. What I can do that I don’t feel guilty about hiring a cleaning service. Because I do want to spend more time with my family ultimately.

Amy Charpentier: Well, I think what you need to realize is that most people don’t understand that hiring a cleaning service is actually affordable. And it’s a huge time saver. A homeowner will spend about 15 hours a week cleaning their home.

Danielle Know: What is that a year, I’m afraid to ask?

Amy Charpentier: You’re spending a month out of every year cleaning your home.

Danielle Know: Wow. And that could be spent with the kids?

Amy Charpentier: Absolutely. I know that myself and other busy families are concerned, they want their home to be inviting and a safe place. And the green-sealed certified chemicals that we use, they are safe for your family, they’re safe for your pets, and they work just as well as the conventional cleaning products. Life is too short to clean your own house so don’t feel guilty in hiring a cleaning service.

Kristy Villa: How do we know if a company is really green and if they’re not?

Tim Evankovich: Great question, Kristy. It’s very difficult sometimes to find an environmentally responsible cleaning service, especially with all the greenwashing and advertising, not knowing who is and who isn’t certifying who. We think it’s important and we gain credibility with our third-party endorsements, being endorsed and partnered with green-seal and their products, as well as, following the practices of the Department of Health and Human Services. We meet with every customer before we start cleaning their home to explain to them what products we are going to use, what chemicals, how we are actually going to clean their house; an opportunity for a customer to ask us those questions of are you green or not.

Danielle Know: Thank you guys so much for being here. Lots of great information. I learned a lot. I learned that I’m going to hire a cleaning service. I learned that going green is obviously the way to go, and I do that anyway in other parts of my life. But I also learned that by doing this I get to spend more time with my friends and family. It’s so worth it.

Tim Evankovich: Thanks so much for having us, this was great.

Kristy Villa: Now I know what I’m going to do, I’m going to be calling you in about two minutes. If you want more tips on cleaning green and to find one of The Cleaning Authority’s 180 locations in 40 states—to help you out, what do they visit?

Amy Charpentier: www.thecleaningauthoirty.com

Kristy Villa: Easy enough to remember. And coming up, more on our green special, right?

Danielle Know: We are gonna have a lot more coming up. We are gonna find out what company has planted over 800 million trees because of a sneeze. Stay with us!