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The Green Seal Compass: Ensuring Clean Water

Producing greener products, fostering greener supply chains, and implementing water conservation policies are critical steps that today’s leaders are taking on the path to a low impact economy. Green Seal recognizes these leaders with third-party certification so that you can identify choices that protect public health, safeguard our rivers and lakes, and preserve our climate.

The Safer Way to Clean and Disinfect Your Home

Anxiety about the spread of the COVID-19 virus has led households to significantly increase their use of cleaning and disinfecting chemicals throughout the pandemic. Though well-intentioned, these habits can expose households to toxic chemicals, ultimately causing more harm than good. By learning how to choose safer products and understanding when disinfecting is appropriate, you can guard against viruses and other germs while also protecting your home’s indoor air quality and the health and safety of your family.

Prohibiting PFAS Chemicals

Green Seal is proposing a new prohibition on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, a large class of chemicals that are commonly used in consumer products and associated with a number of adverse health and environmental effects. Green Seal is taking a multi-year phased approach to this initiative, with the end goal of ensuring all certified product formulas and product packaging are PFAS-free across product categories.

Eligible for Certification: Spray-Applied Microbial Cleaners

Green Seal has made important improvements to our standard criteria for microbial-based cleaning products to better recognize leadership in this popular product category.  These updates allow Green Seal to verify important health protections while removing the restriction on spray-applied products. Now product manufacturers with spray-applied microbial cleaners can demonstrate that their products are formulated to be healthier, safer options for buyers.

The Green Seal Compass: Minimizing Waste

Preventing and minimizing waste is a critical goal for shifting to a low impact economy. With improved product design, less shipping of water, greater use of recovered materials, and well-performing, long-lasting products, we can reduce the waste that is so costly to our society and ecosystems. With the complexity of the market, the Green Seal Certification Mark provides clarity, signifying that a product meets a strong benchmark of health and environmental leadership — thereby making it simple for buyers to make the greener choice.

Consumer Beliefs are Changing About Sustainable Products

New research shows that consumers, particularly younger generations, are beginning to see sustainable products as higher performing than conventional alternatives. This change in the perceived value of environmentally preferable products is a testament to the quality of the sustainable brands available today and a beacon of hope for the future of responsible companies. 

Our New Standard is Defining Sustainability for Paints and Coatings

Green Seal’s Standard for Paints, Coatings, Stains, and Sealers (GS-11) has been rewarding leading manufacturers for low-VOC content, safer formulas, and effective functional performance since it was first issued in 1993. Now, Green Seal’s paint certification is the only mark in the marketplace to qualify products for both LEED v4.1 low-emitting materials credit requirements and Amazon’s Climate Pledge Friendly badge — making it simple for health-focused buyers to identify safer products.

A Healthy Indoor Air Standard for Schools

Unhealthy indoor air, inadequate ventilation, and chemical exposure from cleaning and maintenance routines are linked to poor concentration and test performance in students, adding preventable barriers to achievement. Green Seal’s updated standard sets additional and more substantial monitoring requirements; establishes the point system that will be used as the basis for certification; and provides more opportunities for schools to make healthier, safer choices.

Your Guide to VOCs in Paint and Cleaning Products

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are common indoor air pollutants that are frequently found in household products and can cause adverse health effects. Products certified to Green Seal standards must abide by strict limits to VOCs to protect human health. This post provides a quick overview of VOCs, how to choose healthier, greener products, and other tips for reducing your exposure to VOCs.

The Green Seal Compass: Protecting Human Health

Green Seal’s standards address the most significant health and environmental impacts for which there are known and feasible safer alternatives. Critically, Green Seal standards also set requirements for functional performance; buyers can be confident the certified healthier product they are choosing is also one that will meet their expectations and get the job done.

Innovations are Making Toxic Chemicals a Thing of the Past

This is a guest contribution by Patrick Lucci Since 1847, when chlorine was first used as a disinfectant, there have been few alternatives to the effective but often dangerous substances known as chemical disinfectants. Today, there is a technology that combines salt, water, vinegar, and electricity to create an EPA-registered, general purpose, hospital-grade cleaner and

Introducing Green Seal’s Compass: Health, Waste, Water, and Climate

Whether you’re exploring the Green Seal certification process or identifying safer products for your home or workplace, you may be interested in understanding what Green Seal prioritizes in its standards. From hand sanitizers and cleaning products to paints and sanitary paper, the Green Seal Compass guides our work to ensure only the healthiest, most responsible,

3M Easy Trap Sweep and Dust Sheets – Innovation Criteria

Update: The public comment period for 3M has ended. Green Seal accepted public comments between May 17, 2021 and June 18, 2021. Learn more about 3M and its product certification status on Green Seal’s Environmental Innovation Registry page. 3M has modified the claims associated with their application for Green Seal’s Environmental Innovation certification for their Easy Trap Sweep and Dust Sheets. The company’s proposed