Read the full story in the New York Times.
A marketing overhaul for the environmentally friendly housecleaning product leads to lower prices and a new promotion strategy.
Category Archives: Green purchasing
In an Overhaul, Clorox Aims to Get Green Works Out of Its Niche
Torstar Sets Paper Policy, But No Ban on Controversial Fiber
Read the full story in Environmental Leader.
Harlequin romance novels and Toronto Star parent company Torstar has adopted paper procurement principles that it says will eliminate the use of fiber from ancient and endangered forests — but it doesn’t set any target deadlines or percentages.
The policy says Torstar will not knowingly purchase paper derived from illegally harvested sources. In addition to Harlequin and The Toronto Star, the principles will apply to more than 125 daily and weekly newspapers published by the Star Media Group and Metroland Media.
Cleaning Up: How One Utah School is Greening It’s Cleaning
Read the full story in Sustainable Industries.
This spring, the National Building Museum is debuting the first-ever museum exhibition dedicated to the greening of American schools. Featuring over 40 exemplary projects from new construction to rehabs to modular classrooms, the exhibition surveys the extraordinary breadth of green school design in the United States through sample building materials, photographs, video, and green products. It explores the multiple facets of green schools, from their architectural form and physical systems, to the impact the buildings have on the health and well-being of the children and adults who occupy them. Green Schools remains on view through January 5, 2014. Plan your visit at http://go.nbm.org/green-schools. In connection with the Green Schools exhibition, National Building Museum curator Sarah Leavitt is interviewing the individuals – from staff, to teachers, to students – who are making schools greener.
Jeff Hawkins is the director of custodial services for the Provo City School District in Provo, Utah. He spoke with Green Schools co-curator Sarah Leavitt about his award-winning work at Dixon Middle School for which he and his team recently received the Best Cleaning Industry Environmental Program Award.
Webinar: Creating the Right Chemistry in Consumer Goods
March 19, 2013, 11 am-noon CDT
Register at http://info.greenbiz.com/03192013BASFWebcast_03-2013-webcast.html
Creating more sustainable products takes more than a single company — it takes an entire value chain. Today, successful companies are finding new ways to partner with upstream suppliers and downstream companies to identify and address environmental and social issues along the supply chain.
That’s particularly true when it comes to designing products for the entire life-cycle, from building materials to everyday consumer goods and packaging. There are qualitative and quantitative measures that need to be assessed – ranging from stakeholder concerns to carbon footprint to conservation of resources.
In this free, one-hour webcast, you’ll hear from the world’s largest chemical company, a consumer products company and the world’s largest retailer about how companies can work together to make an entire value chain more sustainable. You’ll hear about the ripple effect, as each player leverages the others’ capabilities to create an ever-larger impact.
Among the things you’ll learn:
- How to conduct a product assessment to identify key sustainability issues along the value chain
- Translating sustainability into procurement language for buyers and suppliers
- How to work with your supply-chain partners to maximize impact of driving sustainability improvements
Green Seal Publishes Standard On Laundry Products
Read the full post from Today’s Facility Manager.
This past January, Green Seal, a nonprofit certification organization founded in 1989, announced the publication of GS-51: Laundry Care Products for Industrial and Institutional Use.
Designed to address the life cycle impacts of laundry care products used in institutional and industrial settings, GS-51 specifies performance, environmental, and health requirements such as concentration, reduced toxicity, biodegradability, and reduced and recyclable packaging.
The standard covers more than 20 product categories for conventional laundry and dry cleaning, including detergents, prewash products, spot removers, laundry additives, and fabric care products.
New from the GAO: Use of Remanufactured Parts in the Federal Vehicle Fleet Is Based On a Variety of Factors
What GAO Found
The 14 agencies GAO reviewed have vehicle repair processes that generally allow field office staff, such as the vehicle operator or local fleet manager, to make vehicle maintenance and repair decisions. These processes neither mandate nor prohibit the use of remanufactured parts. The agencies we reviewed generally do not keep data on the extent to which remanufactured parts are used. Agency officials from the 14 agencies in our review said that they use remanufactured parts when warranted, and we observed the presence of remanufactured parts in the stock rooms during our visits to repair facilities. Deciding when to use remanufactured parts, according to agency officials and related guidance, depends on a number of factors including the cost, availability, and reliability of the part. According to agency officials, these factors are considered on a case-by-case basis for each repair to yield the best value for the federal government.
Why GAO Did This Study
In fiscal year 2011, federal civilian agencies reported about $975 million in maintenance and repair costs for approximately 588,000 vehicles that the agencies owned. These vehicles can be maintained and repaired using new or remanufactured parts. While there is no standard definition of a remanufactured vehicle part, the Federal Acquisition Regulation defines remanufactured parts as factory rebuilt to original specifications. Remanufactured vehicle parts tend to be less expensive than comparable new parts. The principal remanufactured products in the motor vehicle sector are engines, transmissions, starter motors, alternators, steering racks, and clutches, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission.
Given the potential for cost savings from using remanufactured parts in the federal fleet, you asked us to examine this issue. Thus, this report describes (1) the vehicle repair process for selected agencies, including the use of remanufactured parts, and (2) the factors that agency officials consider when deciding whether to use new or remanufactured parts for repairs.
Cleaning Trends Expected In 2013
Read the full story at CleanLink.
Over the years, Corinne Zudonyi has talked a lot about cleaning trends her readers can expect moving forward. This year, those cleaning trends are not just possible; they are unavoidable. For example, facilities that focus on green and sustainable cleaning will begin to see changes in the marketing and labeling of products. To comply with revised “Green Guides” from the Federal Trade Commission, terms such as “green” and “environmentally friendly” will need to be substantiated. Certifications and seals of approval may also need to provide a disclaimer and qualify products’ certifiable attributes.
Shaping a green procurement strategy: Q&A with Yalmaz Siddiqui
Read the full story in GreenBiz.
At least 45 countries have embraced national policies requiring public agencies to buy greener products and services. Businesses are using similar commitments to drive more efficient and environmentally sensitive supply chains.
While the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED system has become a commonly used guidepost for green building, there is no equivalent today for sustainable procurement. The Sustainable Purchasing Council aims to make the process simpler, with input from the nonprofit community and big companies like Office Depot that are creating strategies of their own.
Yalmaz Siddiqui, co-chair of the SPC steering committee and senior director of environmental strategy for Office Depot, offers advice for how to “buy better.”
Spread Of Ecolabels Vexes Cleaning Product Makers
Read the full story in Chemical & Engineering News.
Cleaning products companies aren’t fond of the seals, lists, and guides but they participate in them nonetheless.
Webinar: Speaking Green to A&D: How Manufacturers Can Use Eco-Labels to Position Their Products
December 18, 2012, 12:30-1:30 CST
Register here.
With the more than 400 Eco-labels in the marketplace today, there is confusion and information overload on what constitutes a truly sustainable product. This presents a particular challenge for the architecture and design community, as well as affiliated purchasers and specifiers, in how to assess the validity of green claims. The past few years have seen a dizzying array of acronyms, jargon, and claims, from LCA to EPD — not to mention single- versus multi-attribute labels.
The problem is equally vexing for product manufacturers, who must determine with which labels to align themselves. Making the right choice can mean the difference between success and failure in the mainstream marketplace.
In this one-hour webcast, three industry experts will discuss which product claims, certifications, labels and declarations are most valuable and how A&D evaluates manufacturer claims of sustainable product attributes.
Among the things you’ll learn:
- What constitutes sustainable product attributes and credible eco-labels
- How branding your product’s sustainable attributes incorrectly could be a big turn-off to A&D
- How the information you provide A&D can inspire them to specify your products when using LEED and other high performance rating programs
- Resources available to manufacturers to increase their product portfolio’s sustainability via certification/evaluation of claims
