Global Handwashing Day is coming up this weekend! The theme for this year is: Unite for Hand Hygiene. And, in recognizing the importance of hand hygiene for health, we do seem to be united. In a survey earlier this year, the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) found that 93% of respondents found handwashing important in preventing the spread of illness at home. Global Handwashing Day is coming up this weekend! The theme for this year is: Unite for Hand Hygiene. And, in recognizing the importance of hand hygiene for health, we do seem to be united. In a survey earlier this year, the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) found that 93% of respondents reported handwashing as important in preventing the spread of illness at home.

As the saying goes, think global, act local. In recent years, we’ve seen how quickly an illness can spread and become a pandemic. Stopping the spread of disease starts with each of us in our own communities. We know good hand hygiene habits are important at home and also important in our schools, businesses, and other public spaces.

Here are some ways you can be a hand hygiene ambassador in your community:

• Get involved in Global Handwashing Day with these ideas from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• Share resources on cleaning and hand hygiene in schools, businesses, childcare settings and college with ACI’s Cleaning Is Caring toolkits.
• Help spread the word about HealthySchoolsHealthyPeople.org, a website created as part of a joint initiative between ACI and the CDC featuring educational games and classroom resources on handwashing.

Let’s get the word out and celebrate Global Handwashing Day!