Slique mobile franchise going green

The growing worldwide trend towards "green" (environmentally-friendly) standards are now becoming more prevalent in the stone and tile industry. Going green is vitally important wherever possible - there is only one planet, and it won't last forever. Here Slique stone care franchise group looks at some of the things to consider when going green with stone and tile treatments.

The mobile franchise business, Slique, has a company-wide commitment to be as “green” as they can.

Where possible, the most environmentally-friendly chemical options available to them are chosen. They collect used chemicals and dispose of them correctly with the chemical bottles refilled as long as possible to conserve plastic. They limit use of disposal items and even office staff print most things on recycled paper.

Slique stone care franchise group is also a major proponent of green day-to-day cleaning of stone and tiles, promoting and selling microfibre products, which offer highly effective chemical-free anti-bacterial cleaning.

Greenness vs effectiveness

In any industry, when chemistry is a core part of the business it is important to balance greenness with effectiveness. Stone and tile treatments cannot be performed solely with “green” products.

Some of the products used by the stone care franchise company are mildly toxic, or pollutants. The management of these products is important so that they are only used when no other more environmentally-friendly option is available.

Slique chooses the greenest chemical options available to effectively complete treatments. Only where there are no other viable options do they not go green.

Green now vs green in the future

There is a current trend in the building industry to hand over a “green” house, or to specify the use of VOC-free sealers for all work. Strangely, the greenness seems to be measured on an immediate basis, and future impacts are not always taken into account.

For example, a water-based stone sealer is indisputably “greener” than a solvent-based product. But if a water-based sealer is used in an area where a solvent-based product would provide a better result, the long-term environmental impact is likely to be worse than using the less-green sealer in the first place.

How can that be? It's simple: a less-effective sealer will need to be replaced more often. It won’t perform as well, so it will need to be cleaned more often, and may require harsher chemicals to maintain.

Whereas a properly-specified sealer will last for its projected life, and will minimise the need for the use of toxic or phosphate-based chemicals in day-to-day maintenance.

Keeping stone and tiles “green”

Restoration is greener than replacement. However protecting a stone or tile surface first is even greener again. A properly-protected stone or tile surface will require less maintenance, and will therefore have a very low environmental impact into the future.