Every November 19 is designated as World Toilet Day.  This is a day wherein the world can think about the very real need for sanitation in areas that don't have any.  Currently, some 419 million people still practice "open sanitation" because they don't have access to toilets.  This is dangerous to them as it makes them more vulnerable and it is dangerous to others as it spreads disease.  

Currently, there is a push to achieve sanitation for all by 2030.  This is critical to help the planet and people.  And speaking of the planet, what about the animals and birds, especially the hummingbird?  The hummingbird and World Toilet Day are connected.  Do you know why?  Check out more information on worldtoiletday.info and find out.  

Let's all do our part to be sanitary and healthy as we enter 2024!

Global Handwashing Day - October 15

 

Global Handwashing Day rolls around every October 15.  This year it falls on Sunday.  This special day is designed to get people thinking about the importance of handwashing and how it can slow or even stop the spread of disease.  

During the COVID 19 pandemic, handwashing was paramount, and many people were more attuned to washing their hands than they were before.  Now, however, with the pandemic taking more of a backseat, handwashing might easily be forgotten. That would be a real cause for concern!

So, why not take a second look at the value of handwashing this Sunday, October 15.  Check out some information online regarding this day and stay healthy!

Global Handwashing Day

If You're Not Sure, Don't Touch It!

It's a custodian or janitors worst nightmare.  You do your cleaning, you try to be proactive and help out when something seems amiss, and you cause millions of dollars in damages. Horrifying to say the least.  Check out this article about just such an incident whereby 25 years of research were destroyed by a cleaner that did not read the sign regarding an annoying beeping on the deep freeze freezer.  Millions of dollars down the drain and decades of research gone.  Ouch!

Read it here

 

Annually, World Toilet Day is observed on November 19.  It brings awareness to the poor sanitation and problems some 3.6 billion people face regularly.  Using a toilet seems so simple, but not for many.  Don't take for granted such a simple device.  It's what helps us stay healthy and happy.  Check out their site for more information. 

Global Handwashing Day - 2022

Handwashing has been touted as highly important for decades.  However, during the recent COVID pandemic, handwashing became even more critical.  

In some countries, a lack of water, poor hygiene, limited access to health care facilities and a general lack of knowledge regarding health and hygiene increases the likelihood of spreading disease.  In some places, handwashing can even be considered unnecessary.  

Thus, every October 15, a worldwide effort to get people to wash their hands is highlighted and recognized as Global Handwashing Day.  This year that falls on Saturday.  To learn more and to see what you can do to help implement this important procedure, check out this link and any other related links you might find online.  

Happy handwashing!!

National Custodian Day - October 2, 2022

Every October 2 is designated National Custodian Day. This is a day that focuses on the work that custodians do every day in businesses, schools and buildings everywhere.  For the most part, custodial workers just do their job day in and day out without asking for or seeking recognition.  They try to do their best at keeping their assigned areas clean and tidy.  It's a big job and often a job others view as demeaning and beneath them.  But, like any structure, without a foundation, upon what would one build?  Similarly, without the foundation of cleanliness, how many businesses and buildings would stay healthy and be a welcoming place to visit or work?  Custodians lay these foundations for others to build upon.  Check out these links regarding this special day set aside for these hard-working people. 

Click me 

No, click me

How about me

And me

National Special Education Day - December 2

December 2 marks the 13th year that National Special Education Day has been celebrated.  In honor of all those with disabilities, this is a great day to thank everyone who works with those who are disabled and to support and work with those who have disabilities.  

In our school, we often have students with special needs that help us clean up after lunches and help set up for events. They are happy, excited to help and work tirelessly when they do.  They never complain and they are always happy to be able to contribute to society and share their talents.  We LOVE having them help us and we applaud them all every day and especially on December 2 with special recognition.  

Keep sharing your talents and abilities with society. It is appreciated very much.  You are essential.  And thanks to all those caregivers, paras, teachers, parents and others who support and work with those with disabilities.  You are to be commended as well! 

Check out more:  December 2, IDEA Schools and December 2, National Holiday Calendar

World Toilet Day

World Toilet Day happens annually on November 19.  The purpose?  To highlight the need for toilets and sanitation around the world, especially in countries where toilets are limited or non-existent.  According to the World Health Organization, "Each year, World Toilet Day on 19 November highlights the importance of sanitation and hygiene in driving improvements in public health, gender equality, education, economic development and environmental protection. This year’s theme is ‘Valuing Toilets’."  

Something most people take for granted isn't the case for everyone.  Check out this important day and why it is highlighted annually.  You might be surprised by what you learn. 

(For more information, click on the WHO link above) 

Global Handwashing Day is Tomorrow, October 15

The annual Global Handwashing Day is upon us.  It is observed every October 15.  This is a great reminder especially nowadays with COVID still wreaking havoc around the globe.  So many diseases could be quelled if people would just wash their hands.  Germs would die and people would live.  

Interestingly, it was handwashing that began to save women giving birth who were dying from puerperal fever in the early 1800's because physicians were coming straight from the morgue into the delivery rooms without washing their hands.  Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis surmised this was the reason for these unnecessary deaths and promoted handwashing.  Deaths dropped.  However, his colleagues thought him a fool and didn't follow his example.  Eventually, suffering from a nervous breakdown, he ended up in an insane asylum.  He was beaten by the guards and died from gangrene a couple weeks later.  It wasn't until years later that the discovery of microscopic germs was made known and handwashing was advocated as critical to preventing the spread of disease.  

So, WASH YOUR HANDS!  Keep the bugs at bay and live another happy day!

Check out some history about Dr. Semmelweis

National Custodian Day - October 2

They don't ask for recognition, and many don't even want to be placed in the limelight. But, once a year, custodians are recognized with a day of their own.  It's called National Custodian Day and it falls annually on October 2.  This year that is a Saturday.  

National Custodian Day recognizes the work that is done by custodians as they toil away at their normal cleaning tasks such as emptying garbage, cleaning restrooms, washing windows and so on.  It also recognizes the behind-the-scenes work they do which often goes unnoticed.  And with COVID-19 raging the last 18 months, custodians have been thrown into a whole new ballgame of keeping buildings clean and disinfected while at the same time keeping themselves and their families healthy.    

Interested in learning more?  Check out a few links that highlight this annual day.  

Link One

Link Two 

Link Three

Butt, Wait! Really?

There's retinal scanners, fingerprint scanners and other biometric ways of identifying someone.  Here's a new one.  How about an anal print?  

You read that correctly.  Scientists are working on toilets that can identify a person and possible health issues by their butthole or anoderm.  These scans would be used to test urine, feces and other things for medical use.  Of course, there's going to be concerns and privacy issues involved.  

Intrigued?  Read more in this article from futurism.com.  Fascinating stuff.

Custodian Slept at His School Overnight

What!  Why?  Because Peter Hemans knew that if he didn't make sure the sump pumps in the basement kept running during Tropical Depression Ida at the beginning of September, the damage that could result if water got into the school would be devastating.  So, he stayed overnight to make sure that didn't happen.  That's dedication!  

Check out the article and video about this Head Custodian in New Jersey. 

A Challenge That Saddens

Custodians across the U.S. are battling a new challenge on Tik Tok known as "devious licks".  The challenge is aimed at middle, high and college schools to destroy restrooms in school buildings.  The fallout has cost schools money and custodians a lot of time to repair.  It's sad that students want to follow the suggestion of others who are only concerned with themselves and don't care about others.  Much like lemmings following each other right off a cliff.  

Happily, most students respect the school and are themselves saddened by this trend.  It's just a few who don't care who their actions hurt that make this such a senseless challenge.  Here's a more detailed article from CMM Online regarding this trend. 

MooLoo - Potty Training Cows

Potty training children is one thing. Potty training cats and dogs is another.  But potty training cows?  

It's true. Scientists in Germany have succeeded in training cows to urinate in designated stalls wherein their urine is collected and processed thus reducing the amount of nitrous oxide which is produced when they urinate in the soil which in turn causes more green house emissions.  

Check out the process and results of this experiment and what it could mean for the future of the planet in this article from BBC News.  

Tokyo's Floating Toilets

Check out these fascinating toilets in Tokyo which were built for the 2021 Olympics. The design gives the illusion of floating walls around the stalls.  The interior has beautiful wood used to surround the stalls.  Check out the short video tour of these restrooms as well.  

Floating Toilets 

The Toilet That Knows About You

Imagine a toilet that can check your heart rate, detect disease, check your caffeine intake, monitor toilet paper levels, use facial recognition to limit toilet paper use based on your past usage and more? Sound invasive? Science fiction? Not so! These toilets exist and are beginning to pique the interest of toilet manufacturers.

More and more smart toilets will begin to make their way into the market. Would you trust them? Would you use them? Are there pros and cons? The European Cleaning Journal contained an article in the April/May, 2021 issue addressing these kinds of toilets. Check out what the article has to say before you flush the idea out of your head.

The Custodial Worker Deserves His Pay

Custodians and janitors work hard to keep buildings clean and functioning.  And, like any worker, they deserve all of their hard earned money.  Sometimes, though, they lose pay due to an oversight or clerical way of working the accounting books.  

Here's a short article taken from cmmonline.com wherein the U.S. Department of Labor retrieved back pay for 31 custodians working for a cleaning company in South Carolina.  It makes you feel good that someone has your back, especially in a time like now when cleaning is at the forefront of everyone's mind.  Check out the article below. 

A recent investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and its Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has recovered US$20,849 in back wages for 31 custodial workers.

The workers’ employer, Quality Touch Janitorial Service Inc. of North Charleston, South Carolina, was found to have violated the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). DOL investigators determined that instead of tracking the number of hours employees worked each week and paying overtime when they worked beyond 40, Quality Touch tracked and paid overtime after employees worked 86.67 hours in a semi-monthly pay period. The FLSA requires employers to pay overtime for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek.

The DOL also found the cleaning company failed to include certain hazard and specialty cleaning pay in workers’ regular rates of pay when calculating overtime rates. Excluding those amounts resulted in the employer paying overtime at rates lower than those required by law.

 “The pandemic has made our work to ensure essential workers take home every cent of their hard-earned wages and that employers understand their responsibilities vitally important,” said WHD District Director Jamie Benefiel. “We encourage anyone with questions to reach out to us for confidential assistance.”

National Cleaning Week is Coming!

Never before has cleaning been on the minds of not just janitors, custodians, housekeepers and others, but the whole world because of COVID.  Words like disinfect, sanitize and sterilize have been tossed around like popcorn in an air popper. It's no longer unusual to hear people talking about using hand sanitizer, washing your hands for 20 seconds, covering your mouth, wearing a mask, keeping physical distance between each other, vaccinations and more.  It's just the norm now.

So, each year on the fourth Sunday of March and lasting for a week is National Cleaning Week.  This event brings to the fore cleaning and why it's so important.  In the past this was a highlighted week.  Now, it is highlighted in fluorescent colors because of COVID.  People everywhere are thinking about staying clean, healthy and virus-free.  

Therefore, from March 28 to April 3, whilst thou cleans at home, work or otherwise, think about National Cleaning Week and what it means.  Use it as an opportunity to ponder why cleanliness is so important and to empathize with people in this country and others that don't live where cleanliness is as easily carried out.  Stay healthy, be wise and take some time to meditate on clean!

ISSA

National Day Calendar

CMMONLINE

The Custodian That Missed the Kids

A school custodian in San Jose, California, misses the kids so much that he created 100+ cardboard cutouts of kids in various acts of playing to help him get through the pandemic since he's working all alone right now.  The linked news story from KNTV/NBC news highlights James Herrera's brainchild.  

World Toilet Day

Today is World Toilet Day.  Millions of people around the globe don't have access to proper restroom facilities.  Often they just "go" in the bushes or along the road.  It's not only unsanitary, but also dangerous, especially for women. Check out why today is such an important day for people around the globe.