As reported by the Central Florida Future. 

Although Univeristy of Central Florida's budget has not seen too much green lately, Housekeeping Services has switched to greener products to maximize its resources and help the environment and employees.

UCF Housekeeping switched to Green Seal-certified products to clean campus buildings about four years ago, said Brian H. Wormwood, the interim associate director of the Physical Plant. He found that greener housekeeping practices helped to create a healthier place for the environment, the housekeepers and the UCF community, but he also thinks UCF should set an example.

"We are in fact the sixth largest university," Wormwood said. "We should be taking the lead in this."

With the construction of the Physical Science building underway, Housekeeping Services wanted to help meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards. Wormwood found it easier to change housekeeping products in all buildings.

"I'm a firm believer that we do things before we have to," Wormwood said. When that time comes, he said, "We don't have to change too much, because we're already there."

But the grass was not initially greener on the other side. When he first began his search for greener products, Wormwood said many manufacturers did not carry Green Seal-certified products.

Housekeeping switched to some products with hydrogen peroxide as the active ingredient rather than bleach, to be as effective and better for staff's health.

Household bleach, or sodium hypochlorite, can be a good disinfectant when used as instructed, but for institutional housekeepers who clean in closed spaces for hours each day, the potent smell can get to them.

"The smell was too strong," said Juan Velez, a second shift housekeeper. He never liked bleach and said he does not miss it since management stopped buying it.

"It was a hard habit to break," said William Bowen, the supervisor of housekeeping. Sometimes he would have to stop housekeepers who had used bleach for years from carrying around bleach containers to use while cleaning.

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