| Standard |
Description |
Audience |
U.S. EPA
Environmentally
Preferable
Purchasing |
The EPA created the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program to
help federal officials meet the requirement of purchasing environmentally
preferable products. Environmentally preferable means products . . . that
have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment
when compared with competing products or services that serve the
same purpose. This comparison applies to raw materials, manufacturing,
packaging, distribution, use, reuse, operation, maintenance, and disposal. |
Primarily federal
agencies, but helpful
to anyone interested in
purchasing products
with a reduced
environmental impact |
U.S. EPA
Comprehensive
Procurement
Guidelines |
EPA is required to designate products that are or can be made with
recovered materials, and to recommend practices for buying these
products. Once a product is designated, procuring agencies are required
to purchase it with the highest recovered material content level practicable.
EPA also issues guidance on buying recycled-content products in
Recovered Materials Advisory Notices (RMANs). RMAN levels are
updated as marketplace conditions change.
|
Primarily federal
agencies, but
helpful to anyone
interested in purchasing
products
with a reduced environmental
impact |
U.S. EPA
Design for the
Environment |
The DfE logo on a product 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. |
Anyone interested in
purchasing products
with reduced
environmental impact |
| Green Seal |
Green Seal is an independent, nonprofit organization that issues
science-based environmental certification standards. Product
evaluations are conducted using a life-cycle approach to ensure that
all significant environmental impacts of a product are considered. |
Large institutional
purchasers, including
government agencies,
universities, and the
lodging and architectural
building industries. |
| EcoLogo |
EcoLogo is North Americas oldest environmental standard and
certification organization (and the second oldest in the world). It is the
only North American standard accredited by the Global Ecolabeling
Network as meeting the international ISO 14024 standard for Type I
(third-party certified, multi-attribute) environmental labels. |
Anyone interested in
purchasing products
with reduced
environmental impact |
Carpet and Rug
Institute |
The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) is the science-based source for the
facts about carpet and rugs. CRIs Green Label program help specifiers
identify products with very low emissions of VOCs. Green Label Plus sets
an even higher standard for indoor air quality and ensures that customers
are purchasing the very lowest emitting products on the market |
Any purchaser of carpet,
adhesives and/or
vacuum cleaners |
The Biodegradable
Products
Institute |
BPI promotes the use, and recycling of biodegradable polymeric
materials (via composting). The BPI is open to any materials and products
that demonstrate that they meet the requirements in ASTM D6400 or
D6868, based on testing in an approved laboratory. |
Anyone interested in
compostable products |
CLOSEOUTS!!! 
