PRINTOn the Job: Eco-Friendly House Cleaner
Q&A with Cam Laird
Christine Martinez
June 24, 2009 | 12:00 p.m. CST
Two brown-eyed girls rush to open the door of their brick house, yell for their daddy, Cam Laird, and dash away. Once upstairs, the down-to-earth dad and owner of Casa Bonita Cleaning Services relaxes in his living room adorned with Ecuadorian pottery and photos of his kids. Laird and his wife run their “green” cleaning business and regularly service over 100 homes in Columbia.
- FAST STATS
- NAME: Cam Laird
- AGE: 33
- COMO RESIDENT SINCE: 1988
- AT JOB SINCE: 2004
Columbia offers many options for housekeeping services. Here are a few.
Columbia Cleaning Service: 445.5975
Tiger Maids: 445.9999
Personal Touch Cleaning Services: 256.1920
AJ’s Housekeeping: 239.2119
Home Cleaning Centers of America: 443.4733
Housekeeping Specialists: 886.8636
Merry Maids: 875.8518
How did you first get involved in the “green” cleaning business?
When my wife first came here from Ecuador, she didn’t speak much English and was looking for work that didn’t require a great deal of language usage. As the one doing all of the cleaning, she wanted to use products that were both safe and healthy.
Are your products affordable to the average house owner?
Yes, we offer a HEPA filtration vacuum for half the price of a Dyson vacuum.
Why is it so important to your customers that you provide an eco-friendly cleaning service?
We spend about 90 percent of our time indoors, and the air quality is far worse inside than outside. The most important thing is having a cleaning company thinking about the air quality and health of your home. Also, a lot of people are drawn to green cleaning services because they suffer from allergies or asthma.
What benefits does green cleaning offer compared to cheaper, traditional cleaning supplies and methods?
Using green products is all about health, not profit, although as everybody is moving towards it, it will generate more profit. I know a woman who also provides cleaning services, and her nose bleeds when she uses harsher, cheaper traditional cleaning supplies.
What are three cleaning supplies that no house should go without?
Baking soda, vinegar and microfiber cloths. Oh, and dish soap.
Who cleans your house?
My wife and me, but we will occasionally splurge and have one of our cleaning teams do it.
Describe a typical day on the job.
We start around 8 a.m. and get off work at 3 or 4 p.m., which is nice since we all have children. We bring all of our own stuff, go in there, knock it out and move on to the next house. We clean up to five houses per day.
What are some of the strangest things you’ve seen while cleaning people’s houses?
I remain tight-lipped about that one. All I can say is that people have very different lifestyles.
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