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Massachusetts Cleans Up the Country
Schools and other government buildings throughout Massachusetts are now being
cleaned with safer cleaning products thanks to a new statewide contract issued
by the Operational Services Division, the Commonwealth's Central Procurement
Office. Applying innovative, market-based environmental principles, the new
contract eliminates the hazards to building occupants and janitorial workers
associated with traditional cleaning products including concerns about cancer,
reproductive disorders, respiratory ailments, eye or skin irritation, and other
human health issues.
"Traditional cleaning products are a toxic witch's brew of hazardous
chemicals," explained Betsy Taylor, President of the Center for a New American
Dream. "They contain known carcinogens, reproductive toxins, and other
chemicals that are harmful to both human health and the environment. Massachusetts
and other government leaders are using their purchasing power to demand better
and safer products. They are creating markets for safer products that create
jobs and protect human health and the environment."Even more exciting is
that the safer products are very cost effective. According to Marcia Deegler,
Massachusetts' Environmental Purchasing Program Manager, "Some of
the environmentally preferable cleaning products are actually less expensive
than their traditional counterparts. For many applications, the environmental
products are, at least, very cost competitive - differing by only pennies per
quart."
In addition to their relatively low cost, the new products work just as effectively
as traditional products. In fact, Massachusetts went the extra mile to ensure
their effectiveness. "All of the general purpose, bathroom, glass and carpet
cleaners approved for use under the contract were extensively tested by an independent
laboratory at the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) at the University of
Massachusetts Lowell using three different surfaces and soils," explained
Deegler. "The results clearly show that all of the green cleaners perform
as well, if not better than, the traditional products they can replace."
"The bottom line," suggests Deegler, "is that the green cleaners
are safer, they're effective, and they don't have to cost more. The
decision to switch to environmentally preferable cleaners should be easy."
While the cost savings and additional human health and environmental protections
are valuable, the bigger impact might be the large number of purchasers across
the country that are following Massachusetts' lead. The environmental and
human health criteria included in the Massachusetts contract were put together
by a group of government purchasers, organized by the Center for a New American
Dream and funded in part by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Controlling more than $15 million in annual cleaning product purchases, the
team included all of the government purchasing pioneers who first attempted
to define and purchase effective, safer, and more environmentally preferable
cleaning products - Massachusetts; Santa Monica, California; King County, Washington;
Minnesota; Seattle, Washington; and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
- among several others.
"While governments spend millions of dollars on environmental products
every year, this is the first time Massachusetts has worked so closely with
so many other government purchasers to change the markets on such a broad scale,"
explained Eric Friedman, Director of State Sustainability for Massachusetts.
"In addition to the enormous environmental and human health benefits, this
collaborative effort will help cleaning product purchasers across the country.
It makes it easier to share environmental, health, and product performance information,
which makes the process more efficient, more cost-effective, and more beneficial
for us all."
Before this effort, according to Steve Ashkin, an industry expert with The
Ashkin Group, there were numerous competing definitions of what constitutes
a green product. "Industry couldn't respond," Ashkin remarked,
"because of what it saw as a constantly moving target. Very few companies
invested in reformulating products because no standard had gained national credibility
or created enough marketplace demand to make it a profitable investment. With
the new Massachusetts contract and the incredible momentum behind the new purchasing
criteria, it will be much more likely for the entire industry to respond."
The initial focus of the Center for a New American Dream's purchasing
work group was to compare the numerous competing definitions and specifications
for safer cleaning products. After extensive analysis and discussion, the group
realized the other standards were describing remarkably similar products using
very different approaches. Some standards, for example, relied on extensive
lists of prohibited chemicals while others prohibited the same chemicals by
referencing a specific toxicity test. This recognition allowed the group to
begin searching for a single set of criteria they could all endorse.
While Massachusetts is the first of the work group members to use the criteria,
others are not far behind. The City of Santa Monica, for example, is using the
same environmental criteria in a bid that will be awarded soon. It is currently
testing products from five manufacturers that appear to meet the criteria. Minnesota
is also applying the criteria to its own purchases. Other work group members
and other interested purchasers are discussing similar and more ambitious plans.
Now that purchasers are working together to promote a common criteria, safer
products will be more widely available, more affordable, and easier to locate.
The Center is maintaining a list of products meeting the new consensus criteria
for green cleaning products. For a copy of the list, visit www.newdream.org/procure/products/cleaners.html.
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