Steri-7 is very kind to the environment because, when you clean a surface with Steri-7, you use fewer materials and a lot less water.

Standard cleaning protocol requires application of a detergent followed by a disinfectant, typically bleach. Detergents contain variously phosphates, bleach, enzymes, rinsing agents, surfactants, hydrotrope, salts, preservatives, fragrances, and dyes. Although its use is coming under scrutiny, many detergents add an antibacterial substance called triclosan. Cases of allergic contact dermatitis are typically caused by the perfumes and dyes in detergents.

Next in the cleaning protocol comes the bleach, a mixture of caustic soda and chlorine which was never designed to be kind to the environment. The use of bleach carries another disadvantage which is that once diluted with water for cleaning purposes, it soon loses its efficacy. A bucket of bleach solution will have lost all disinfectant qualities within 6 – 8 hours. This leads to a lot of wastage.

Now, where were we? We applied detergent followed by bleach and, of course, both these had to be rinsed off with water. Finally, we get to wipe off the surface and dry it.

We made sure the area was well-ventilated area during the cleaning process because of the fumes from the bleach, (these are mainly chlorine gas) which are nonetheless released to the atmosphere.

And of course, we now have to dispose of the unused detergent and bleach solutions since they’re no longer of any use.

So what happens when we use Steri-7?

Apply the Steri-7 solution to the surface, (you might use a trigger spray or a damp cloth), and wipe so that the surface is visibly cleaned and wetted with the solution. Allow the surface to dry. That’s all.

(If you made up the Steri solution from Steri Concentrate, please don’t throw it away. It’s good for 3 years.)

Because Steri leaves behind a protective barrier that continues to kill pathogens arriving later for up to 3 days, the frequency with which cleaning takes place can be reduced. And at the start of the next cleaning operation, the pathogen load will likely be far less than if standard cleaning protocol had been employed. Potentially, you can achieve improved hygiene with fewer cleans. That’s got to be good for the environment.

Read more on cleaning protocols here.
Read more about that protective barrier here.