Baltimore Green Guide: LIVING


Neat freaks: Ecolistic Cleaning “specialists” such as (left to right) Jane Vincent, Gavin Tucker, Lizz Mazer, and Kasey Simcoe use bagless vaccuums and nontoxic cleansers.


"Courtney Kellogg hadn’t planned to start a cleaning company. She enjoyed running a successful holistic daycare from her Annapolis home, but with the birth of her third child in 2003, Kellogg decided she needed a change. “I was with children all day and all night,” she explains. Then a neighbor hired her to clean his house. She asked if she could use her own homemade, non-toxic cleaning products. “I don’t care what you use,” he told her, “as long as it’s clean.”

It was. That job led to an ad on Craigslist, and Ecolistic Cleaning was born. Kellogg is now a single mother of four living in Lewes, Delaware, with a business that boasts more than a hundred clients around Baltimore and Annapolis, and in Sussex County, Delaware.

The idea is as basic as it is radical: cleaning up shouldn’t pollute. Ecolistic’s employees use unbleached paper towels, recycled biodegradable trash bags, and Dyson bagless vacuums, as well as only non-toxic cleansers made from ingredients like sea salt, vinegar, baking soda, and essential oils. 

The company’s minimum cleaning fee is $125 and can range up to $225, depending on the size of the house. Ecolistic’s staff includes part-time musicians and artists. They bring all-natural treats for clients’ dogs and leave the company’s signature lavender-peppermint room spray lingering in carpeted rooms, plus two organic chocolates—a riff on hotel turndown service. Clients, in turn, have been known to present cleaning crews with pies, cakes, and homemade sandwiches, according to Baltimore manager Jane Vincent.

Ecolistic employees are paid between $12 and $15.25 an hour and go through rigorous training to teach them the art of cleaning green. “I feel like with each new employee, they’re getting an education,” Kellogg says, “and that gets passed on.”
 
Published April 2009 Issue #58 Urbanite Magazine
view the article here

Clean and Serene:  "Want to get your home clean without exposing yourself- or Mother Nature- to a boatload of Lysol? The folks at Ecolistic Cleaning, the only eco-friendly house cleaning service that caters to the Baltimore region, spiff and shine using only non-toxic and biodegradable products. Their homemade cleaner features nothing stronger than lavender oil, grain alcohol, castile soap and spring water- but still does the trick."

Published March/April 2007 Issue STYLE Smart Living in Baltimore Magazine








Cleaning up their act - and yours, too :  "Businesses using eco-friendly ways to clean, and so can you.  Courtney Kellogg, owner of Ecolistic Cleaning in Annapolis, tells a similar story. She's been in business since 2003. Initially, she used natural cleaners because that's what she used in her own home, and because it would lead to a better work environment for her employees.  Customers have picked up on the benefits of natural cleaning. "We're getting a lot of positive feedback," Ms. Kellogg said. She hands out tipsheets to her customers and gives regular demonstrations of how to make your own cleaners at the Whole Foods store in Annapolis. The next demo is on April 19. "It's really fun to make your own products," she said." 

Published March 17, 2007, The Capital, Annapolis, Md. Copyright © 2007 The Capital, Annapolis, Md. 
view the article here