Have you ever been disgusted by the way a parking lot you frequent looks? Cigarette butts, wrappers, empty soda cans, beer bottles, and other debris littering the area can make the area look run down or uncared for. Even just natural debris like leaves, rocks, dirt, sand, or gravel can build up over time. If you’re a business owner, you want your parking lot to stay clean and presentable. In some ways, the outside of your store has a duty to reflect the inside of your store, and if potential customers see the outside is unkempt, they may be hesitant to even visit the store itself. One way to keep your parking lot clean is to employ parking lot sweeping services, which will help clean and maintain the area regularly. If you’re in a high traffic area, parking lot cleaners are essential to keeping your business looking well cared for.
Risk of Pollutants
Another good reason to employ parking lot cleaners is that they’ll not only keep your lot aesthetically pleasing, they’ll also reduce the number of pollutants that your parking lot emits. Any debris left in parking lots will get moved by rain or melting snow, which then becomes runoff pollution. It’s not just parking lots that contribute to runoff pollution — roads, bridges, rooftops, and other impermeable surfaces are all responsible. However, any surfaces that vehicles use often have very toxic chemicals, road salt, and heavy metals that get swept away as part of runoff pollution. Inevitably, it ends up sinking into our ground and getting into our water sources. The runoff can be carried miles away from the original source, so it can affect people who aren’t even close to the parking lot or road in question. Unfortunately, according to the National Water Quality Inventory, runoff from urban areas was the main reason for water quality impairments experienced by estuaries.
In addition to the aforementioned chemicals, road salt, and heavy metals, urban areas also release oil, grease, pesticides, and viruses and bacteria that can be attributed to septic systems as part of runoff pollution.
What Kind of Parking Lot Cleaners Are There?
Parking lot cleaners can be small or large, depending on the size of the lot. Many look similar to the machines that street sweeping services use, with brushes under the body of the vehicle and a vacuum feature that sucks up the debris. You can also get a power washer to really wash down your parking lot every so often and give it a really good sudsy scouring.
And of course, there’s human labor as well, to assist in more day-to-day sweeping of large items like soda cans or bigger debris.
Why Does Investing in Parking Lot Cleaning Services Help Your Business?
Making sure that you keep your parking lot clean and orderly gives off a good first impression to potential customers. If the exterior of the building and its parking lot and sidewalks are clean, customers will probably be more likely to check out the business, especially if they haven’t visited the store before. People may also be less likely to litter. Sure, there are some people who feel no shame about dropping their trash anywhere, but a well kept parking lot doesn’t encourage that kind of behavior and some people may think twice before doing so.
You’ll also be benefitting the environment by keeping parking lot runoff from entering waterways and the local soil. Customers who know that you’re taking that kind of initiative may be impressed and more likely to do business with you, as environmental issues grow increasingly important to society. Furthermore, keeping your parking lot clean may even extend its longevity, as some debris like sand or gravel can be abrasive to the asphalt and wear it away faster.
Make a good first impression, help the environment, and keep your parking lot in good condition and vermin-free simply by employing parking lot cleaners. One simple act can go a long way and result in happy customers and a clean and safe environment for people to do business in.
