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Green Seal is a non-profit
environmental standard Environmental standards are administrative regulations or civil law rules implemented for the treatment and maintenance of the environment. Environmental standards are typically set by government and can include prohibition of specific activities, ...
development and certification organization. Its flagship program is the certification of products and services. Certification is based on Green Seal standards, which contain performance, health, and sustainability criteria. The Green Seal is an ecolabel used by product manufacturers and services providers. The Green Seal Certification Mark is registered with the
United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexa ...
. Green Seal is a U.S. member and co-founder of
Global Ecolabelling Network The Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN) is a non-profit network composed of some 29 ecolabel organisations throughout the worldBlue Angel, the
EU Ecolabel EU Ecolabel or EU Flower is a voluntary ecolabel scheme established in 1992 by the European Union. Logo The label includes a green flower with inclined green "ϵ" ( Greek epsilon) as the flower, surrounded by 12 blue stars. On EU Ecolabelled pro ...
, and the Nordic swan. Green Seal meets the Criteria for Third-Party Certifiers of the
United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
, the requirements for standard development organizations of the American National Standards Institute, and the principles for environmental labels of the
International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Membership requirements are given in Ar ...
(ISO 14020 and 14024).


History

Since its founding in 1989, Green Seal has developed environmental standards for hundreds of categories of products and services. Green Seal published a series of buying guides for purchasers in the 1990s (the Choose Green Reports) and at that time began providing technical assistance to Federal, State, and local governments and other institutions' environmental purchasing, operations, and facilities management. In the early 2000s, the certification program focused primarily on building maintenance. In 2006, the US Green Building Council LEED rating system included several Green Seal standards in their criteria. Practice Greenhealth, the AASHE STARS program, and the Green Ribbon Schools Program of the U.S. Department of Education, among others, reference Green Seal standards. According to a 2010 study by the Responsible Purchasing Network, the Green Seal was recognized by 95% of purchasers and used by 76%.


Standards and certification

Products and services must meet the requirements in Green Seal standards in order to achieve certification. The standards are based on a life cycle approach, considering such impacts as those from raw materials extraction, manufacturing, use, and re-use or disposal. The evaluation process includes review of data; assessment of labeling, marketing, and promotional materials; and on-site auditing. Products or services become certified by Green Seal after these evaluations are completed. Regular compliance monitoring is required to maintain certification. Green Seal has standards and provides certification for products and services in the following categories: * Building Equipment & Construction Materials * Cleaning Products & Services * Company Certification * Environmental Innovation * Food Packaging & Paper * Hotels & Lodging * Household Cleaning Products * Industrial & Institutional Cleaning Products * Paint & Coating Products * Printing and Writing Paper * Sanitary Paper Products * Restaurant & Food Services


Institutional greening programs

Green Seal works and worked with government agencies, healthcare facilities, universities, and other institutions and companies on sustainable purchasing, operations, and facilities management. * Green business projects have included the City of Los Angeles Green Business Program and Green Lodging Program, the City of Chicago Green Hotels Initiative, and the Pennsylvania Green Hotels Program. * Green purchasing projects have included assisting in green procurement for the State of California Procurement Division; City of Los Angeles Green Purchasing Action Plan; Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Environmentally and Socially Responsible Procurement Program; Los Angeles County Green Procurement Manual; National Park Service Green Purchasing Manual; State of Colorado Green Purchasing Evaluation and Training; Multi-State Department of Transportation Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Guide; and the World Bank Purchasing Program. * Green building operations and maintenance projects have included specifications for the City of Philadelphia; an operations and maintenance manual for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; environmental evaluations for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank headquarters facilities; a green facilities plan for the Susquehanna Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (SABVI); an environmental facilities assessment of the three University of Miami campuses; and an operations and maintenance manual for Public Housing Authorities developed in conjunction with Siemens Industries.


Green Seal publications

Green Seal publishes books and articles on sustainability including: * ''Greening Food and Beverage Services: a Green Seal Guide to Transforming the Industry'' * ''Green Building Operations & Maintenance Manual: a Guide for Public Housing Authorities'' * ''NACo Green Purchasing Toolkit''


See also

*
Environment of the United States The environment of the United States comprises diverse biotas, climates, and geologies. This diversity leads to a number of different distinct regions and geographies in which human communities live. This includes a rich variety of species of both ...
*
Global Ecolabelling Network The Global Ecolabelling Network (GEN) is a non-profit network composed of some 29 ecolabel organisations throughout the worldISO 14000 ISO 14000 is a family of standards related to environmental management that exists to help organizations (a) minimize how their operations (processes, etc.) negatively affect the environment (i.e. cause adverse changes to air, water, or land); (b ...
*
Life cycle assessment Life cycle assessment or LCA (also known as life cycle analysis) is a methodology for assessing environmental impacts associated with all the stages of the life cycle of a commercial product, process, or service. For instance, in the case of ...


References


External links


Green Seal

Environmental Media Association
{{Authority control Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C. Environment of the United States Environmental certification