Cleaning the green way

To demonstrate one of the “green” initiatives recently implemented in the East Meadow School District, Mike Ewald used a state-of-the art sanitizer to clean a tabletop.

Ewald, the head custodian at the Leon J. Campo Salisbury Center, has worked with environmentally sound products throughout his 23-year career in East Meadow, and says this sanitizer “by far works best.”

The secret ingredient?

“Regular tap water,” said Patrick Pizzo, director of Facilities and Operations. “That’s it.”

Ionized water, a green-certified product, is ranked among the top sanitizers while eliminating the need for more traditional, pervasive cleaners like ammonia. It requires a special battery-powered spray bottle and tap water.

Initiatives like the ionized water spray impressed judges at Schools and Universities Magazine to distinguish the East Meadow School District as honorable mention for its annual “Green Cleaning Award.”

Before Pizzo came to East Meadow two years ago, green cleaning was discussed, but it was not ingrained within the district as a whole.

That soon changed. Agendas for monthly head custodian meetings almost always include a green initiative. Often, vendors drop in to demonstrate new product. There is also a Green Cleaning Committee. Members are: Pizzo, Ewald, Clarke Head Custodian Dan Pletenycky, Parkway Head Custodian Bob Callan and Kevin McVey, a janitorial product distributor at Knight Marketing Corp.