Looking good! Coming along nicely now. Ceri has another load of bottles to donate to the build too.

Excellent work.
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I tweeted a while ago about a friend of the Moppers who was building a greenhouse out of empty water bottles for her allotment. Well, we have some pictures of her progress. And it’s looking magnificent! What a great idea.

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I’ve blogged before about people glazing over the minute you mention you’re any of the following:

• Green or Eco
• Fairtrade
• Sustainable
• Ethical

They’re thinking the following:

• Expensive
• Boring
• Preaching
• Hippy
• Why should I?

Well recently I attended a Green Group meeting organised by Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce. It was the idea of local business owner Clare Hall who worked with the Chamber to bring together 20 or so local businesses and organisations who have that ‘Green’ slant to what they do or the way that they do it. In a room full of like minded people, there was great passion for creating a focal point and information hub to benefit other businesses, and the city as a whole.

I also went to the Brighton and Hove 10:10 campaign first birthday celebrations, where we were treated to presentations from business and education sectors, local community groups and home improvement experts. They all described the steps they had taken in the last year to reduce their carbon footprint, and the plans and targets for the future. Again, it was a room full of like minded people all applauding the efforts made, all feeling positive about what can be achieved.

At these events, we’re kind of preaching to the converted. We need to find away to help the cynics see why we are doing these things. Why people like Clare Hall give up their time to try to bring about change. It’s easy to get excited about all the things we can do and the ways we can help. But local businesses have to want to be helped and to want to change their often deep routed habits.

For me, the message should be a simple one. Do what you can.

Not all of us can have a wind turbine in the back garden, but we can switch things off if we’re not using them. Not all of us can replace our boiler for a more efficient one, but we can turn the thermostat down a notch. People shouldn’t feel they’re being told off, or that they’re not doing enough. But they should be pointed in the right direction to make a start on the right path. They should be encouraged to make greener choices. And the Green Gang will hopefully make that easy for all by being encouraging, approachable and supportive. Sharing knowledge and experience and making it simple for habits to be changed to new, cleaner, greener habits.
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NO IT ISN’T…. Well, it shouldn’t be! We know some companies add a premium for choosing green. But take a look at our core cleaning kit in the picture.

Ye olde fashioned white vinegar and soda crystals are less than a pound each, and a little goes a long way. The Enviro range from our janitorial supplier is brilliant, and we buy most of it in 5 litre tubs. The loo cleaner bottle in the picture will be refilled until the label can’t be seen any more, and then we print off a new label and keep reusing the bottle! It’s not just an environmentally friendly way to work, it’s also cheaper! The 5 litre tub of all purpose cleaner in the picture costs about £7. It is a concentrate and is diluted 1 to 100, so we put a splosh of it in a trigger spray bottle and top it up with water (so a standard 750ml bottle of ready to use all purpose spray costs pennies <I tried to work it out and couldn’t!>).

That microfibre cloth will be used and washed and reused and washed… and when they finally get shabby, they’re just used as rags. So, again, it’s green but also cost effective and cheaper than using disposable cloths! And the mop head is used and washed and reused 3 times before being discarded.

So done well, being green is actually about doing things cheaply! But Cheapskate Mop wouldn’t have been as catchy a name!
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The most exciting news is… IT’S BRIGHT GREEN!!! I’m so excited. I need to trim up a little before my impending holiday, so I’m going to try to not use my trusty scooter and use peddle power instead!
I’m exagerating… it’s not exactly new. It’s a hand-me-down. My partner’s mum, Jackie, gave it to me at the weekend. She didn’t really have much of a choice.. her husband Martin was trying to make room in his shed for his flash new bike. So he offered it to me, I was grinning saying “it’s green! it’s green!”. Then he said, “I’d better check with Jackie, she’s had it years and she loves it”…. Being very polite, she didn’t want to disappoint my excited face.. so we crammed it into the car and left before she could change her mind!
PS. Martin has a flash new bike because he is cycling to Paris. Just the 300 miles! He’s clearly mad, but if you feel like encouraging him in his quest and doing a little bit for charity then you can give a little by clicking here

So, in February, we took the big exciting step of moving out of my back room into a proper grown up fancy office. Well, it was more of a medium sized cupboard, but it seemed posh after fighting for space on my kitchen table knee deep in green cleaning paraphernalia. Anyhoo, it soon became home to Ceri and I.
Well, as always with us, it hasn’t gone smoothly! On Tuesday afternoon we were informed that the very nice people that were renting it to us were going bust.. and that we wouldn’t get our deposit back.. and that we had to be out by Friday. Yes, this Friday. Yes, 3 days notice.
Turns out they’ve done it before and make a habit of taking people’s deposits then chucking them out.
We’ve no idea what to do about attempting to get our deposit back, but we’ll try. I don’t think we stand much of a chance. As a word of warning, the lovely people who have taken lots of deposit money from lots of small business and disrupted us all are called MLS Business Centres.
In a panic, we rang round some of our commercial customers to see if they had room for 2 homeless Green Moppers. A couple of kind hearted souls offered us spaces without needing a deposit. Green Mop customers are the BEST! So in the end we took up one of the offers, and we spent all day today moving offices. I’m so greatful to the lovely Fifth Element people who have taken us in!
We’ll be settled in in no time I’m sure!

I don’t mean to go on.. but I’m going to anyway!
Please can we all try to stop the 3 most unnecessary household things that have become a habit for many.
1. Air fresheners.
2. Bleach.
3. Anti-bacterial products.
I’ve already gone on and on (and on and on..) about why not to use these as well as alternatives. So I just thought I’d remind you all to give em up! We don’t need to pollute our homes in order to keep them clean.

So close and yet…
We very nearly got our first franchise off the ground. It didn’t quite work out unfortunately. I was disappointed, but the lovely lady decided to go it alone. I’m sure she’ll do really well, but it’s a huge shame we’re not going to be helping her out.
I completely understand her decision and admit that when I first started Green Mop, I was very determined to go it alone and build my own business from scratch. I can even remember saying out loud “it’s cleaning.. how hard can it be”.
Oh I was SO naive!
I’d never run a business before.. or employed anyone, negotiated contracts, been a sales person or an accountant, done any marketing, been a boss or supplied quotes, provided customer service, chased payments, been responsible for health and safety… the list is HUGE!
I had done a bit of cleaning! But that is only part of what makes Green Mop a business. The learning curve was (and still is) very steep. To have had help with all the other elements at the beginning would have been a big advantage.
Oh well, we wish her the very best of luck in her cleaning business and genuinely hope that it works for her. She’ll work hard and be very successful, I’m sure. (I still think teaming up with Green Mop would have seen her hit the ground running though!)
So, meanwhile, we’ll be seeking out other quality candidates to become our first Green Mop franchisee! We want there to be Green Moppers keeping homes and workplaces clean and green all over the country!

Oh my oh my. We are SO proud to have won the Argus Eco Award for Green Business.

So Ceri, Sharon and I all went to our first ever award do. I had to dig out my old interview suit from my IT days (shiny elbows, ill fitting trousers, and ripped lining in the jacket), Ceri had to wear high heels (she was walking like she’s been riding a horse for 4 days), and Sharon was sporting her best dangly earrings (bling!). We were wined and we wered dined (Barefoot Wines and Due South were 2 of the sponsors!).

Then the awards ceremony started. Our category was 2nd to last, so my nerves were frazzled. I got all psyched up as our category loomed, then the compere said “let’s take a break for the raffle”! Jeeeeeepers..

I’d bought some raffle tickets, and foolishly agreed that Sharon, Ceri and I would share any prizes (although Sharon and I decided that if we won the surfing lesson, Ceri could have that all to herself!). There was huge excitement when we won the £250 shopping spree at Churchill Square… that we’re going to share (sulk)!

Then, back to the awards.. We were up against Nigel’s Eco Store and the Cycling Gardener, both lovely and deserving local Green Businesses. The sponsor of the award was Neilson Active Holidays , and their big cheese read out that we had won.

I can’t tell you how pleased I was! There was a big cheer (even louder than when we won the shopping spree!). Sharon and Ceri had decided to make as much noise as possible (the free wine helped!).

And so we are now Green Mop - the Award Winning green cleaning company!

The Green Moppers have worked so very hard in the last 18 months. Ceri and Sharon in particular have helped so much to make us a success. Green Mop struck lucky when those 2 agreed to be the core of the team. All the girls and boys, both past and present, that have pulled on the Green Mop t-shirt and got stuck in making homes and workplaces clean and fresh have all contributed to the great reputation we have earned. Gen, Alice, Sophie, Jo, Joe, Johnny Sparkles, Hettie, Maria, Apphia, a big thanks.

And our lovely customers. Thank you to those that took the time to nominate us in the first place! And thanks for choosing us to be your cleaners and helping our small green and ethical business to thrive in Brighton and Hove.

Thanks also to the Argus and the sponsors for putting on such a great do. We did have fun!

One last thanks and then I’ll shut up! Thanks to my friends and family for putting up with all the Green Mop trials and tribulations. Josie has to put up with most of it! But Josie and Teen are always there with advice and help and ideas. My family are so proud and supportive and encouraging.

Anyway, back to reality… there’s cleaning that needs doing, so better get on..

Ooo it’s all change here at Green Mop Towers.

Many of our regular customers will already know Ceri Jackson who’s been working with me pretty much since Green Mop began last year. Well, as our little company grows, we’ve decided to split the responsibilities of Commerical and Domestic Cleaning Services.

Ceri will now take care of all our Domestic customers. And I’ll be concentrating on the Commercial side of our business.

As we continue to grow, we need to make sure that the service we provide maintains the high standards that us Green Moppers and the customers expect.

We both still get stuck in and do a lot of cleaning ourselves, so you will still see us scootering about with our feather dusters sticking out of our rucksacks!

And we both want to thank all our customers for helping our little business thrive! We’ll both continue to strive to keep your homes and offices clean and green!