observed. "From what I learned, I became a vegetarian, and have been for about 25 years now."

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch...

In 1992, Deirdre met Don Imus, the noted radio talk show personality. The two soon married, and because they were both committed to helping children battle cancer, they started the Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer in 1998.

"The concept behind the Ranch was to create a pristine environment for the children - from all-natural building materials, to growing our own organic food without insecticides. We also teach them that they're normal children, who happen to be sick, and that they can do pretty much what any kids do, given the right environment and encouragement," Mrs. Imus shared. "At one point during the second year we were at the Ranch, a question occurred to me: was the typical hospital environment - where many of these kids spent a lot of time being treated - healthy, particularly since they are cleaned 24/7? That well-known 'hospital smell' made me think not, and further research proved that was definitely the case," Mrs. Imus concluded. And she set out to do something about it.

The moment of truth

Mrs. Imus went to the President and CEO of Hackensack University Medical Center, John Ferguson, with a thick folder filled with facts documenting the toxic ingredients in conventional cleaning products. She also made the case that housekeeping tends to overuse harsh disinfectants to clean just about everything and anything. "I was ready for a whole lot of skepticism on his part. He could have said, 'You're crazy, go away,' but about five minutes into our discussion he essentially said 'Deirdre, you're right, these products are noxious, and if you can deliver a natural solution that's as effective, then do it.' And that's how 'Greening The Cleaning' was born," Mrs. Imus recalled.

Getting the go-ahead to 'green the cleaning' was one thing. Developing a new line of cleaning products that would meet the high standards within a hospital was an even bigger challenge. "When we came in with the formulations we developed from all-natural, non-toxic ingredients, they were put through Hackensack's rigorous efficacy testing. The results of those tests were extremely satisfying to me because our Greening The Cleaning (GTC) formulations not only exceeded the necessary standards, they actually did better than many of the harsh chemical cleaners which were in daily use," Mrs. Imus noted with pride.

Cleaning more than 3.4 million square feet on a regular basis

The 14 buildings on HUMC's campus contain approximately 3.4 million sq. ft. of floor space - not to mention all the windows, walls, and other cleanable areas. That's a great deal of real estate. And all of it is cleaned with GTC products.

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