January 2021

Here at GreenEarth Cleaning, we’ve long championed that every day be celebrated like it’s Earth Day. So it’s only fitting that when the planet-loving holiday does officially roll around, we make a pretty big to-do about it. In 2019, we kicked off our inaugural Earth Day Clothes Drive to commemorate GreenEarth’s 20 years in business. A total of 140 U.S. affiliated retail locations—from Connecticut to Colorado to California—opted into the effort for the month of April and racked up a combined donation amount of more than 20,000 pounds, which benefitted Big Brothers Big Sisters as well as other regional nonprofits. At our headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, we partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kansas City and local taproom Bier Station for a one-day clothes drive event that diverted over 2,000 pounds of clothing from the landfill. Textile waste has and continues to be a pressing issue across the globe. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that it occupies nearly 5% of all landfill space. However, the EPA also reports that 95% of all textiles have the potential to be reused or recycled—yet the current rate is only 15%. Through our Earth Day Clothes Drive, we hope to bring awareness to this disparity and initiate change, starting with our very own Network and their customers. We had planned to continue our clothes drive in 2020, but we could not in good conscience move forward with the event during such an unprecedented time. Although, we didn’t let that stop our sustainability mission entirely. Over the past year, we’ve still collected clothes at our home office in hopes of accumulating an especially large contribution for 2021. Denim brand Lee has helped us with that effort by already making a sizeable donation to the cause. We’re inviting all GreenEarth Members to join us once again in reducing textile waste and make an impact within the communities they serve. Clothes will be collected at participating Affiliate store locations, with donations to charities of choice happening on or right around April 22. For those interested in learning more about the 2021 GreenEarth Cleaning Earth Day Clothes Drive, please contact affiliatesupport@greenearthcleaning.com.

Historically blackout and lined curtains have been a problem for manufacturers, customers, and cleaners alike. The wrong fabric combination and a lack of aftercare testing instruction can lead to using an incorrect cleaning method. Dunelm had been working hard on a sustainable and robust care solution and approached GreenEarth Cleaning to provide context and insight from our perspective.  In partnership with GreenEarth affiliate Johnson Cleaners, we looked at the construction of the range and devised a testing plan that would compare the most commonly used forms aftercare (Perc, Wet Cleaning and GreenEarth) versus a control. The results were extremely favourable towards GreenEarth Cleaning and then began the process of Dunelm recommending GreenEarth Cleaning on the care label.  Our marketing team was able to offer design support to look at labelling options, to provide designs to Dunelm’s chosen labelling company.  We recommended to Dunelm that they display the (F) care symbol, as this automatically recommends a gentler and milder cleaning process. We also added some wording that encouraged the customer to use GreenEarth, alongside our logo and the website address for our global store locator. So, if you see Dunelm curtains with the GreenEarth logo on the packaging and the care label, you know these are the ranges that have been tested by GreenEarth Cleaning and Johnson Cleaners. This was then followed by a project meeting involving the GreenEarth Cleaning Team, the relevant fabric technologists, and representation from the Dunelm marketing team.  We collectively wanted to make sure that the messaging went beyond the care label.  This meant making sure that customers understood what GreenEarth cleaning was and how to access it and also that the Dunelm colleagues were equipped to deal with any queries from customers. This has resulted in in-store and online communications pieces, outer product packaging, as well as colleague briefings. Now, GreenEarth Cleaning is recommended on the labels of all lined and blackout curtains. And what’s more Dunelm customers can currently get 10% off curtain cleaning using GreenEarth Cleaning via Johnson Cleaners. https://www.dunelm.com/info/about/how-to-care-for-your-curtains

As 2020 has come and gone, most of us are looking back on it as a year we’d like to soon forget. For most industries, business took a hard hit. State departments recorded record-high numbers of American citizens filing for unemployment. Hospitals around the world literally ran out of space. Family gatherings, vacations, concerts, and shopping outings were canceled. Oddly enough, it took no time at all for folks to realize social media and virtual web applications, the technology that has been largely accused of the demise of human interaction, was in fact our most personal means of communication and the only way for small businesses to reach their customers. It’s safe to say that 2020 was the most pivotal year in any working adult’s life. Cocktail hours amongst friends were taking place in their own separate living rooms. Grandma was able to watch her Christmas gifts being opened through a camera on her phone. Businesses were using state-of-the-art technology to conduct meetings, training, collaborating on projects, and communicating with their customer. People were forced to adapt to a new normal and our primary coping mechanism was technology and social media platforms. We saw countless stories of neighbors, including many GreenEarth Affiliates, stepping up to make a positive impact in their community through food drives, clothes drives, offering free services to first responders, and any other number of good deeds. The movement to support locally owned small businesses experienced a massive push. Communities were truly pulling together to see each other to the end of this pandemic. It warmed our hearts to see these stories and was the reminder of humanity we all needed to see. Without social media, how many of these stories would have gone further than those directly involved?  Understanding where our audience is, we’ve assisted dozens of GreenEarth Members in creating a strong online presence, using social media platforms to build relationships within their community and grow local awareness around their brand. Now more than ever, social media marketing is an integral part of operating a business. If you’re a GreenEarth Affiliate reading this, you can learn more about how our marketing team can assist you here.  I say all this simply to say—2020 was rough. But together we got through it, and we’re stronger for it. We’ve learned how to make some major pivots in our work and personal lives, and we’ve realized how important it is to support our local communities. As much as we’d all like to forget the year that was, maybe it’s vital we never do. All the same, cheers to 2021, may it be filled with smiles and laughter.