Waste Prevention Information Exchange

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing

Also see Cleaning and Custodial Supplies, Electronics, Hazardous Substances, Product Stewardship, and Environmentally Preferable Purchasing in Health Care in this directory.

Note—Some "environmentally preferable products" and some "green products" might not be safe for people and the environment in all situations and uses. To our knowledge, there is no enforceable standard by which such products must be produced or formulated.

CIWMB Programs and Services

• Buy Recycled Resources—From the CIWMB's Buy Recycled Program.
• Environmentally Preferable Purchasing—CIWMB's EPP home.
• Recycled Content Product Directory and RecycleStore—You are not closing the loop unless you also are buying  recycled-content products.  (For an explanation of the difference between the Recycled Content Product Directory and RecycleStore, see the Business Waste Reduction Resources Index.)
• Microfiber mops—Reduce the use of water and cleaning chemical.  The Health Care Section of the Waste Prevention Information Exchange.
• Waste Prevention World
  • Alternative Power Products—Products that utilize power obtained through mechanical means, such as winding, shaking, or squeezing. In Waste Prevention World.
  • Electrical Storage, Present, Past and Future—A description of all types of rechargeable batteries. In Waste Prevention World.
  • Rechargeable Batteries and Chargers—In introduction to buying and using rechargeable batteries.
  • Rechargeable Battery and Charger Sources—Where to buy rechargeable batteries and chargers.

CIWMB Publications

CIWMB has either printed or Web publications on this topic that you can find at either our publication search page or our main search page. However, not all of these publications apply to "waste prevention" in the most literal use of that term.

Other Resources

Documents

• Best Practices Manual—This guide will help you select products that offer best value, not only in terms of cost and performance, but for the health of fellow employees and our environment ... and our families. Everyone makes a difference.
• Complying with the Environmental Marketing Guides—This document provides the interpretation of the staff of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the requirements of Section 5 of the FTC act. It is not binding on the Commission. This document is also available in Portable Document Format (PDF), 477 KB.
• Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims, 16 CFR Part 260—What the Code of Federal Regulations says would or would not be deceptive for manufacturers to say about their products when stating their environmental benefits.
• Cleaning for Health: Products and Practices for a Safer Indoor Environment—Do you know the difference between a disinfectant, a sanitizer, and a sterilizer? Do you know the benefits and risks of each? Do you know the alternatives? This report from INFORM explains this and more. Either the entire document or individual chapters of the documents can be downloaded. Portable Document Format (PDF), various sizes.

Web Sites

• Green Earth Office Supply—Mostly office supplies, but also clothing accessories, things for the house and pets, and more.
• Green Procurement Resources of the Northeast Recycling Council—An active list serve and the future site of EPPNET, this project works to link federal, state, local, and private procurement and environmental officials charged with purchasing environmentally preferable products and developing policies for the procurement of these products.
• U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Environmentally Preferable Purchasing
  • The Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Database—U.S. EPA's database makes it easier to purchase products and services with reduced environmental impacts. The database is organized like a shopping mall with environmental information for selected products and services located within each store. The EPP Database currently includes several types of information:
    • Voluntary standards and guidelines used to compare the environmental preferability of products and services.
    • Contract language and specifications containing environmentally preferable purchasing language.
    • Other sources of information about the environmental preferability of products and services.

Last updated: May 05, 2008