Conscious Cleaning Resources Handout
By Eric Grace and Gary Downing
Personal, Business, and Staff Vision, Values, and Mission Statements
By Eric Grace
What is a vision statement?
A vision statement is a company's road map, indicating both what the company wants to become and guiding transformational initiatives by setting a defined direction for the company's growth. A vision statement describes the organization as it would appear in a future successful state.
Your personal vision statement guides your life and provides the direction necessary to chart the course of your days and the choices you make about your career. Your personal vision statement is the light shining in the darkness toward which you turn to find your way. It illuminates your way. It is your compass, your light tower.
What is a values statement?
A values statement describes what the organization believes in and how it will behave. Not all organizations create or are able to uphold a values statement. In a values-led company, the values create a moral compass for the company and its employees. This compass guides decision-making and establishes a standard that actions can be assessed against. A values statement defines the deeply held beliefs and principles of the organizational culture. These core values are an internalized framework that is shared and acted on by leadership.
Management cannot create a new values statement and expect the values to simply become core values for the organization. For an organization to have an effective values statement, it must fully embrace its values and use them to guide its attitudes, actions and decision-making on a daily basis. Developing a values-led organization can be a difficult and slow process that should be attempted only by organizations that are willing and prepared to make a long-term commitment to the established company values.
Your personal values statement is a definition of your core values that you are aligned with and those that you look to uphold and express in the world. A personal value statement is a concise and specific statement that outlines what is most important to you in your life, your moral foundations. The better you define your personal values, the more capable you are of creating a business that is in harmony with those values. These values must be consistent with and supportive of your life and business mission and vision.
“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” Carl Jung
The power of a vision statement lies in imagining a better future for yourself. Right now things may be difficult or unsatisfying. So envision a more fulfilling life. One that makes use of your passion and interests. What might that look like?
What is a mission statement?
Your company's mission statement is your opportunity to define the company's goals, ethics, culture, and norms for decision-making. The best mission statements define a company's goals in at least three dimensions: what the company does for its customers, what it does for its employees, and what it does for its owners.
A mission statement explains the company’s reason for existence. It describes the company, what it does and its overall intention. The mission statement supports the vision and serves to communicate purpose and direction to employees, customers, vendors and other stakeholders. The mission can change to reflect a company’s priorities and methods to accomplish its vision
A personal mission statement is a bit different. It can include the specific dimensions of your life or be an overall sense of direction. Your mission statement becomes your constitution, the solid expression of your vision and values.
Oprah’s: “To be a teacher. And to be known for inspiring my students to be more than they thought they could be.”
Richard Branson: “To have fun in [my] journey through life and learn from [my] mistakes.”
Other examples:
“I live to serve my talents as communicator, artist, and independent businesswoman. I create balance in work, play, and community. I inspire those I interact with.”
“I want to be the kind of person my dog already thinks I am.”
1. What is your life vision, values, and mission?
Your life vision and mission are the foundation for your business. If you don’t have a life vision and mission your company will flounder and you will feel less meaning and life satisfaction. Often times it takes time to clarify what they are for you and they can change over time. A life or business coach, counselor, or support team can help with that process.
Ex: A business owner starts a business without really assessing what he wants for himself and his family. 5 years in, the business has grown but he has less personal time to be with his family which turns out to be a clear goal of his. His life vision clarifies to be a present husband and father that provides through his businesses success while offering the world with quality service, giving back to the community, and a satisfied staff.
He defines his mission statement to include reducing his work hours and improving efficiency, hiring management to delegate and administer tasks, create new systems in place to have the business run more on autopilot with a passive income stream, improve customer and staff satisfaction with new processes that reduce excess spending that can be given back to the staff as incentives and rewards programs as well as a reduction in sales cost for customers, give proceeds to the local charities, and creates a life where he has more free time to enjoy his family and travel.
He clarifies his values statement as I am a man that loves and is available for his family, cares for his staff, serves the world with a quality business, and gives back the community.
His company’s vision is bringing more ease and beauty into the world with ecofriendly housecleaning and education so all can thrive. His company mission is to create a positive work culture, pay his staff well, provide earth stewardship through green cleaning, give back to the larger community, educate his clients and staff on healthier lifestyle options, and raise awareness of conscious business practices. His company’s values statement is guided by integrity, consciousness, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability, and grace.
Then he implements in his interviews and business trainings and meetings acknowledging these statements and asking his staff to share theirs.
2. What is your business’s vision, values, and mission?
3. What are your employee and contractors life vision, values, and mission?
If you don’t know what your employee’s and contractor's life vision and missions are, how can you help them be successful? If they have visions, values, and missions that do not align with you and your company sooner or later problems will arise due to this disconnect. They will not feel fulfilled, you will not feel they are fitting the position, and clients will suffer resulting in productivity reduction, lost of clients, loss of workplace morale, more staff drama, less satisfaction for all involved, and needing to put out more client ‘fires’ on a regular basis.
4. So… Are all of these aligned?
Is your life, your business, and your staff’s vision, values, and missions all aligned? We urge you to start introducing a process to engage yourself around this and start the conversation with your staff. If you are in need of more support contact Eric at .
Green Cleaning Recipes by Gary
Green scrub recipe:
· 1/2 cup baking soda
· 1/2 cup salt (sea salt is more powerful)
· 1/2 cup borax
· 6-8 drops of essential oil (use your favorite scent)
Scented Vinegar solution:
· Put flower petals, herbs, or spices into a glass jar. The more you put in the stronger the scent will be
· Fill half of the jar with vinegar
· Fill the other half of the jar with room temperature of distilled water
· Put the cap on top (with a plastic bottom ) sealed and the put in to a box
· or closet for ten days
Green Carpet Cleaning Solution
· Baking soda
· Container
· Favorite oil 16-20 drops then use a fork or knife to spread the oil or shake the container
· Spray the carpet with water or club soda
· Then sparkle the mixture of baking soda carpet . Then rub the mixture in carpet. I use an Obirter machine
· The longer you let it set the more it will work.
· Then vacuum. The same mixture can be used on furniture and the inside of the car just use a handheld vacuum.
Addressing Carpet Stains
· Spray bottle
· Full up with club soda
· Paper towels or Rag
· Dabthe area and you will see the spill on paper towel until the spot is gone.
· Do not Rub on carpet !!!!!!!
· Side note use the same bottle to clean windows
Repairing floor scratches naturally
For Walnut and Pecan Floors
· Cover scratches on floor
· Break the nut in half and rub on the scratch
For Natural Wood
· Match the color of crayon to the floor.
· Get a hair dryer
· Heat the crayon until it becomes a wax
· Apply to scratch area
· Buff in
Tea color scratches
· Tea color scratches
· Brew a strong pot of tea
· Let it cool
· Take a micro fiber cloth and dip into tea
· Apply to the scratch
· Please contact Mr. Gary Downing, President of Happy Cleaning
· Website
· happycleaning.com
For more information Contact Gary at:
From Toxic Choices to Healthier Choices
Compiled by Eric Grace
SODIUM HYDROXIDE
Found in: Oven cleaners and drain openers.
Health Risks: Otherwise known as lye, sodium hydroxide is extremely corrosive: If it touches your skin or gets in your eyes, it can cause severe burns. Routes of exposure are skin contact and inhalation. Inhaling sodium hydroxide can cause a sore throat that lasts for days.
Healthier Choice: You can clean the grimiest oven with baking-soda paste — it just takes a little more time and elbow grease (see recipes in “DIY Cleaners” sidebar). Unclog drains with a mechanical “snake” tool, or try this approach from the Green Living Ideas Web site: Pour a cup of baking soda and a cup of vinegar down the drain and plug it for 30 minutes. After the bubbles die down, run hot water down the drain to clear the debris.
CHLORINE
Found in: Scouring powders, toilet bowl cleaners, mildew removers, laundry whiteners, household tap water.
Health Risks: “With chlorine we have so many avenues of exposure,” says Kasuska. “You’re getting exposed through fumes and possibly through skin when you clean with it, but because it’s also in city water to get rid of bacteria, you’re also getting exposed when you take a shower or bath. The health risks from chlorine can be acute, and they can be chronic; it’s a respiratory irritant at an acute level. But the chronic effects are what people don’t realize: It may be a serious thyroid disrupter.”
Healthier Choice: For scrubbing, stick to Bon Ami or baking soda. Toilet bowls can be cleaned with vinegar, and vinegar or borax powder both work well for whitening clothes. So does the chlorine-free oxygen bleach powder made by Biokleen. To reduce your exposure to chlorine through tap water, install filters on your kitchen sink and in the shower.
AMMONIA
Found in: Polishing agents for bathroom fixtures, sinks and jewelry; also in glass cleaner.
Health Risks: Because ammonia evaporates and doesn’t leave streaks, it’s another common ingredient in commercial window cleaners. That sparkle has a price. “Ammonia is a powerful irritant,” says Donna Kasuska, chemical engineer and president of ChemConscious, Inc., a risk-management consulting company. “It’s going to affect you right away. The people who will be really affected are those who have asthma, and elderly people with lung issues and breathing problems. It’s almost always inhaled. People who get a lot of ammonia exposure, like housekeepers, will often develop chronic bronchitis and asthma.” Ammonia can also create a poisonous gas if it’s mixed with bleach.
Healthier Choice: Vodka. “It will produce a reflective shine on any metal or mirrored surface,” explains Lori Dennis, author of Green Interior Design (Allsworth Press, 2010). And toothpaste makes an outstanding silver polish.
2-BUTOXYETHANOL
Found in: Window, kitchen and multipurpose cleaners.
Health Risks: 2-butoxyethanol is the key ingredient in many window cleaners and gives them their characteristic sweet smell. It belongs in the category of “glycol ethers,” a set of powerful solvents that don’t mess around. Law does not require 2-butoxyethanol to be listed on a product’s label. According to the EPA’s Web site, in addition to causing sore throats when inhaled, at high levels glycol ethers can also contribute to narcosis, pulmonary edema, and severe liver and kidney damage. Although the EPA sets a standard on 2-butoxyethanol for workplace safety, Sutton warns, “If you’re cleaning at home in a confined area, like an unventilated bathroom, you can actually end up getting 2-butoxyethanol in the air at levels that are higher than workplace safety standards.”
Healthier Choice: Clean mirrors and windows with newspaper and diluted vinegar. For other kitchen tasks, stick to simple cleaning compounds like Bon Ami powder; it’s made from natural ingredients like ground feldspar and baking soda without the added bleach or fragrances found in most commercial cleansers. You can also make your own formulas with baking soda, vinegar and essential oils. See the “DIY Cleaners” sidebar for a list of clean concoctions.