Prior to stumbling into the janitorial business when he agreed to clean a doctor’s office for extra Christmas money, Quintana was the safety compliance and human resources officer for Española Mercantile Co.

Quintana and his wife, Celina, have been running PMI since 1994, when, except for the scattered “canaries in the coal mine,” far fewer people who needed things cleaned, brushed and polished gave much thought to the harmful effects the products they were using were having on their health and their environment undefined particularly air and water.

When they began, Eric Quintana said, 90 percent of the products they used and sold were petroleum- or chemical-based cleaners, polishers and sealers undefined many of them classified as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, a large group of often dangerous carbon-based chemicals that easily evaporate at room temperatures. They are now greening at 60 percent or 70 percent of their services and products.

VOCs such as acetones, benzene and ethylene glycol, to name three commonly used bad boys, are found not only in building materials such as carpets, sealers and solvents, but also cleaning and home-care products. They include such often-used items as air fresheners, disinfectants, and paint and varnish products.

“It’s the Mr. Clean theory,” Quintana said, referring to the muscular bald guy on the cleanser bottle. “Many customers still want the chemical-based cleaners so they can “stand back, squirt it on and undefined ta-da! It’s clean,” thus avoiding all the critical thinking, moral reflection and elbow work that comes with the less-toxic cleaners and solvents.

The ingredients in the green cleaners tend to be on the softer, gentler side, including soy, flowers, sassafras, sugar cane and other plant-based products.

Increasingly over the years, and especially in the past seven or eight, the Quintanas have been listening more to the canaries, those who find themselves coughing, wheezing, scratching or irritated in some way by chemical-based cleaning products.

“We have become very versed in the multiple facets of [green] cleaning,” Quintana said, “and we also look for products from manufacturers where you don’t throw the bottle away.”

A few years ago, Quintana came up with a six-step guide for establishing a green home environment that serves as his green bible for building and operating PMI. They are: The use of green seal and solution products; deploying high-performance entry matting systems; use of cleaning equipment with less of an environmental impact; development of low-environmental-impact cleaning habits; use of microfiber technology for mopping and whipping; and use of recycled paper products.

Sometimes, Quintana said, his customers and the ever-greening times led him to more environmentally kind products and services. Other times, he brought his customers along.

As the business offered more products, he said, “My customers automatically became more green-oriented. They changed with the times as PMI did.”

But Quintina hasn’t come back from the chemical side entirely. Some of his clients still insist on the “petrol punch” from the more abrasive, toxic chemicals.

“We are still using some traditional methods,” he said. “With green, they have taken the petroleum punch out of products. So now it’s back to elbow grease.”

Although most of his clientele are residences, Quintana also provides janitorial services to larger institutions, including Los Alamos Medical Center and Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas. PMI employs 30 people in Texas and 50 in New Mexico.

Quintana’s most immediate plans include constructing an expanded warehouse distribution center in Española, followed by cash-and-carry operations in Las Vegas, N.M., Santa Fe, Taos and Rio Ranch as well as several “fill centers” where customers can refill containers with cleaners rather than throwing them away.

He is also backing an effort by Los Alamos city leaders to ban the high-metal content in floor finishes used by many commercial operations to prevent contamination of area rivers and water systems.

“What I really want to see is more people using environmentally preferred products,” Quintana said. “I hope it’s not too late for our planet.”

On the Web

Performance Maintenance Inc.: www.pmigogreen.com