Michael Girowal did not start his working life as an eco warrior. Far from it. He was in real estate, fielding calls from a constant cycle of tenants complaining that the products their cleaners had used left them with headaches, allergies or an increase in their asthma symptoms. Girowal sensed a niche, and in June last year Green Clean Australia was born.

Not wanting to leave anything to chance, he developed a 24-step cleaning program to ensure each job was done to his clients' satisfaction. Green Clean Australia's two-person teams now travel to 10 workplaces and more than 100 homes across Sydney equipped with backpack vacuums containing HEPA filters, commercial-grade microfibre cloths and thorough training in how to get things clean - really clean - while minimising negative environmental effects.

"A conventional cleaning service would come in with a toilet cleaner, surface cleaner, window cleaner, glass cleaner, and so it continues," Girowal says. "All have some harmful ingredients. We use only two products: a sanitising spray and a multipurpose cleaner. The multipurpose cleaner is particularly green, containing no volatile organic compounds and no acids. It's a plant-based product that completely biodegrades within 21 days."