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The Communicator - March 2005
Do you need more time to do activities that are important to
you? Are there some tasks that you are just not able to keep up
with or to do safely on a periodic or regular basis? Do you need
to reduce stress or conflict around getting cleaning done in
your household?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you have
identified one or more of the reasons why some people choose
a professional house cleaning service to help in their homes.
With spring just around the corner and all the work that comes
with clearing out the dust and grime from the long winter
months and all the new projects you want to accomplish as the
weather gets warmer, you may want to consider if and what
kind of help you could use from a professional cleaning service.
This month's local business spotlight features Jack Burdette, owner
of Sunburd Cleaning. He is a professional house cleaner and calls
the work he does "eco-cleaning". He uses only environmental-
friendly cleaning products, most of which he makes himself. He
started Sunburd Cleaning in March 2002, and says the business is
doing very well, which isn't surprising given his attention to de-
tail and efficiency. In fact, the business is doing so well, that he
has plenty of time to do what he loves most in life and that's Contra dancing. This month, Jack is traveling to England,
his first trip ever out of the states, for a whirlwind tour to attend eight Contra dances all over England in just ten days!
The name "Sunburd" comes from two things in Jack's life. "Sun" represents his beautiful, self-built solar powered home
and "Burd" is the first four letters of his last name. When asked why he decided to start his own business, Jack says it
took awhile, but "finally one day, I said OK, I'm 49 years old and I've worked for someone else for 32 years. And half
the time I've said I can do it better than they can! ... It's too frustrating. I'm just going to do it myself!" And that's what
he did, quit a commercial trucking job and started cleaning homes after talking to a friend who was already doing well
with her own cleaning service. Why Jack chose to offer "eco-cleaning" services as opposed to regular, conventional
cleaning is a much deeper, philosophical decision which goes to the core of who Jack is and what he believes.
It all started back when Jack was in college at Capital University. He designed his own degree in "Sustainables" under
General Studies, researching alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power and organic production of
foods. Jack says the technologies he studied were "too new" in the mid-seventies when he graduated and he was
unable to find work in the field. So he got a job with Columbus State University working in printing and production.
Jack worked there for 16 years before he finally got tired of trying to resolve the conflict between his job and his life
values. "[Columbus State]... was busy training people how to live unsustainably on the planet... The longer I was there,
the more I realized I was contributing to the destruction of our planet." And so he resigned in 1992 after deciding to
build his own home designed to function completely off-the-(electrical) grid!
Jack bought land in the country near Cable, Ohio, and built the house by modifying plans
he got from "Mother Earth News" and with the knowledge of solar technology that he
had studied at Capital University. Jack was the sole contractor and main labor for build-
ing the house, getting a few friends to help now and then. It took him 7 months, working
through a temp service for Honda, getting a paycheck, buying lumber, working on the
house until the lumber ran out, then back to work for another paycheck, buying lumber,
and so on until the house was done. He installed a propane powered refrigerator, stove
top range, and dryer. Everything else (microwave, stereo, computer, lights, etc.) runs
on electricity that comes from solar energy. He has a backup generator that runs on
gasoline and which he now uses only for running his washer. Ask Jack why he was so
driven to build this house? He says that after he attended the Zimmer Nuclear power
plant protest with the Sierra Club, he didn't want to have anything to do with such a
destructive type of energy. He knew the technology was available and he wanted to
"build a demonstration home to prove that solar electricity, off-the-grid, unattached to
any power lines whatsoever, was a viable way to live in this climate." He has lived off-
the-grid now for 13 years and can't imagine living "on-the-grid" ever again.
(continued on the next page)
Jack Burdette
of Sunburd Cleaning