Green Seal is proposing a certification standard for trash bags and can liners to recognize products that use less virgin plastic while maintaining top performance. This standard introduces the new concept of plastic efficiency, which prioritizes the result – curbing virgin plastic use – over the method used to achieve it.
Tag: Standards
Taking a Leadership Position on PFAS in Certified Products
Green Seal’s standards have long prohibited long-chain PFAS formally classified as hazardous. However, a growing body of evidence indicates that short-chain PFAS known as “safer substitutes” have the same harmful health and environmental effects as the legacy PFAS they are replacing. Green Seal’s newly expanded prohibition on all PFAS in certified cleaning and personal care products promotes safer options for consumers and recognizes industry leaders who are taking important steps to protect human health and reduce environmental pollution.
Announcing a National Pilot Standard for Healthier School Facilities
Healthy Schools Campaign (HSC) and Green Seal launched a pilot standard for healthy and sustainable school facilities that focuses on measures that can make a big difference without major capital investments. This is the first national standard focused on healthier school facilities, and it is publicly available for any school district or university to use today to improve air quality.
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.
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.
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.
Expanding the Impact of our Environmental Innovation Program
Green Seal has finalized key updates to our Environmental Innovation Standard to expand the program’s ability to promote market transformation and ensure measurable health and environmental impact reductions. About Environmental Innovation Green Seal’s Environmental Innovation Standard (GS-20) is designed for manufacturers striving to advance product innovation for environmental good. The Environmental Innovation program allows manufacturers pioneering the integration of leading-edge design and performance aspects into their products
Safer, Healthier Hand Sanitizers
Update: Green Seal accepted comments on our proposed health-focused requirements for alcohol-based hand sanitizers during a public comment period from July 30 to August 13. Green Seal published final criteria in GS-41 Hand Cleaners and Hand Sanitizers for Industrial and Institutional Use and GS-44 Soaps, Cleaners, Hand Sanitizers and Shower Products. Our Focus on Health Since
Agile Methods Lead to Better Processes and Better Standards
In the last year, Green Seal has been reviewing our Standard Development Program to identify opportunities to accelerate market transformation through our standards. We’re excited to roll-out the first of several new and improved standard development tools planned for 2020. Today, we’re glad to introduce a new agile process that will allow us to quickly
ABCO Natura Yarn Mop Heads – Innovation Criteria
Update: The public comment period for ABCO Products has ended. Green Seal accepted public comments between April 6, 2020 and May 7, 2020. Learn more about ABCO Products and its product certification status on Green Seal’s Environmental Innovation Registry page. Green Seal’s Environmental Innovation Beta Advisory Program allows product manufacturers to explore environmental and health impacts, engage
Our Standard Means Uncompromising Cleaning Performance
At Green Seal, we often hear the question: how do I know green cleaning products work as effectively as conventional ones? With coronavirus prompting more frequent use of cleaning products (and more inhalation of cleaning chemicals), here’s a window into Green Seal’s performance requirements for certified green cleaning products. Defining Clean Amid the coronavirus epidemic,
Titanium Dioxide Whitens in Enzyme-Based Cleaning
Green Seal has issued new editions of our cleaning product standards with one minor change: We now allow titanium dioxide as an ingredient in enzyme-based products, within certain conditions. Titanium dioxide is a colorant that is included to whiten and brighten many types of products – from food to paints and personal care products. In
Updated Paper Waste Standards Deliver Big Environmental Wins
It’s a simple but harsh truth: America has a paper waste problem Americans throw out 68 million tons of paper each year – that’s 417 pounds per person. Until this year, the U.S. could handle this immense volume by shipping one-third of our waste to China, but due to new Chinese policies, almost all of that refuse is
