Whether you’re looking to use more eco-friendly products in your home or office, it is important to make the best choice. In your search for the right green cleaning product, certifications and labels produced by respected third-party organizations help make this task a little easier. Following, are some popular certifications and organizations for green cleaning products in the industry today.
Green Cleaning: Product Certifications
Green Seal Certified
Green Seal offers certification for the products, services, and companies that meet Green Seal standards. The Green Seal mark represents compliance with a rigorous set of criteria designed to achieve leadership levels in sustainability. Those that have been certified have met the same performance and quality requirements you would expect from the traditional, non-green counterparts due to the performance criteria in each of the Green Seal standards. Green Seal certification is not just a ‘one-time deal’. Companies establish an ongoing commitment to health and the environment through annual compliance monitoring and work toward continuous improvement.” Green Seal also complies with the Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides.
Green Seal is a non-profit organization that uses science-based programs to empower consumers, purchasers and companies to create a more sustainable world.’ Vision: ‘A Green Economy. One that is as sustainable as possible– renewable, with minimal impact– so that our environment, all forms of life and our natural resources are protected and our social needs and values are honored.
EcoLogo
EcoLogo is North America’s largest, most respected environmental standard and certification mark. EcoLogo provides customers (both corporate and consumer) with assurance that the products and services bearing the logo meet stringent standards of environmental leadership. With THOUSANDS of EcoLogo Certified products, EcoLogo certifies environmental leaders covering a large variety of categories, helping you find and trust the world’s most sustainable products.
The EcoLogo Certification Program is managed by UL Solutions, formerly and better known as “Underwriters Laboratory”. The EcoLogo Program is a Type 1 eco-label, as defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This means that the Program compares products/services with others in the same category, develops rigorous and scientifically relevant criteria that reflect the entire life cycle of the product, and awards the EcoLogo to those that are verified by an independent third party as complying with the criteria.
DfE Logo
When you see the DfE Logo (Design for the Environment) on a product it means that the DfE scientific review team has screened each ingredient for potential human health and environmental effects and that, based on currently available information, EPA predictive models, and expert judgment- the product contains only those ingredients that pose the least concern among chemicals in their class.
EPA’s Design for the Environment (DfE) works in partnership with industry, environmental groups, and academia to reduce risk to people and the environment by finding ways to prevent pollution. For more than 25 years, through partnership projects, DfE has evaluated human health and environmental concerns associated with traditional and alternative chemicals and technologies. DfE focuses on industries that combine the potential for chemical risk reduction with a strong motivation to make lasting, positive changes.
GREENGUARD
The GREENGUARD Certification Program helps manufacturers create–and helps buyers identify–interior products and materials that have low chemical emissions, improving the quality of the air in which the products are used.
The GREENGUARD Certification Program, part of UL Environment, was founded in 2001 with the mission of protecting human health and quality of life by improving indoor air quality and reducing chemical exposure.
Green Cleaning: Certification Organizations & Programs
Chlorine Free Products Association:
The Chlorine Free Product Association (CFPA) is an independent not-for-profit accreditation and standard setting organization. Our focus is promoting sustainable manufacturing practices, implementing advanced technologies free of chlorine chemistry, educating consumers on alternatives, and developing world markets for sustainability produced third party certified products and services. The CFPA has no financial interest in any manufacturer, or company, of the products it certifies.
Global EcoLabelling Network:
Ecolabelling is a voluntary method of environmental performance certification and labeling that is practiced around the world. An ‘ecolabel’ identifies overall, proven environmental preference of a product or service within a specific product/service category. It is administered by the Global Ecolabelling Network.