Green Products

Poordude · 04-27-09, 03:39

Troops
i am a sales representitive for a large chemical manufactering company. Been with these guys 25 years & we have done certified green for the last 14 years before green was the thing to do.i just want to clear up some facts about what is "green".
#1...check the label for certification.
There are 2 places that certify green chemicals.
ECP in canada & Green seal in the US. No matter what a label says if it does not have one of these certifications on the label it ain,t green.
Companies have been making claims based on playing with words on the labels that are very misleading to consumers.
Misleading statements like biodegradable.
A 1964 buick is biodegradable.(in 10,000 years but it qualifies that statement)
Green cerification bases it,s criteria on rapid bio-degradable(30 days) among other factors.
Check the websites for more info.
Ecologo Program
Green Seal

Simplest thing to do is check the label!
I am not peddling my chemicals or company; just trying to educate you guys on what green in chemical cleaning really is!

Integra81 · 05-05-09, 05:04

Great post, thanks for bringing this up. Another label to look out for is the EPA DFE (Design for Environment). I think ultimately DFE will become the standard for industry. Most of the major manufacturers in the cleaning industry (Clorox, J&J, etc) have their products certified under DFE and not the other two. Plus, the GreenSeal & ECP programs have exorbitant costs which are hard to justify.

You are 100% right with the label claims. I have seen countless products on the market today make statements about "biodegradable" and "petro-chemical free" when in fact they are not. I believe the FTC is in the process of revamping the "Green Guidelines". Hopefully they begin enforcing them on manufacturers making these false claims.

While the 3rd party validation and labels claims are a great starting point, I think it ultimately comes down to the manufacturers being open and transparent about what they are putting in their products. For instance, the household cleaning aisle has completely transformed over the past few years due to brands like Seventh Generation, Method and Ecover forcing greater ingredient transparency on the big guys. Shouldn't the automotive manufacturers be held to the same standard?