RPN WEBINAR
Toxic Chemicals in Disposable Food Service Ware
This webinar,
which RPN is co-hosting w
ith Center for Environmental Health (CEH), will highlight
new research confirming the presence of fluorinated, "non-stick" chemicals in a wide array of disposable take-out containers, plates, bowls, and food wraps.
Presenters will describe how toxic and persistent grease-resistant chemicals can contaminate food, water, and compost. They will also explain how to identify a
nd procure food service ware products
that are not only devoid of these chemicals of
concern, but are also reusable, compostable, or easily recycla
ble
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Arthur Weissman Leaves Green Seal
After two decades as CEO and President of Green Seal,
Dr. Arthur Weissman will be leaving the organization on September 30, 2017. Green Seal's VP of Certification, Mary Swanson, will serve as Interim President effective October 1.
"It has been both a pleasure and a privilege to have worked at Green Seal for the past 24 years helping to create the green economy," Dr. Weissman said. "Although
I am stepping down as President and CEO, I plan to continue my life-long effort to help protect and preserve the environment in other capacities in the years ahead."
"Under Dr. Weissman's steadfast leadership, Green Seal has grown to become one of the most respected third-party ecolabelling organizations in the world," said Alicia Culver, Executive Director of the Responsible Purchasing Network (RPN).
"For nearly a quarter century, Arthur has been an important champion in the fight against greenwashing and has successfully grown the market for safer cleaning chemicals, hand soap, and other products used daily by government agencies and businesses across the nation," Culver added.
RPN is grateful for Arthur's many contributions to the green purchasing field.
We wish him great success and satisfaction with his future endeavors.
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SPLC Announces Sustainable Purchasing
Leadership Award Winners
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The Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC) recognized 10 organizations and one individual with Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Awards at its Annual Summit in May 2017.
The State of New York received SPLC's Leadership Award for Overall Sustainable Purchasing Program for its Green Procurement and Agency Sustainability Program. The program was developed under Executive Order 4, which directs state agencies and authorities to make purchasing decisions that make State operations more sustainable.
The State of California received SPLC's Leadership Award for a Special Sustainable Purchasing Initiative for its two-year spend analysis pilot project using a life-cycle assessment (LCA) approach to estimate the environmental impacts of over $97 billion of State spending from 2012 to 2015.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts; King County, WA; Multnomah County, OR; and other jurisdictions and businesses won Outstanding Case Study Awards.
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RPN and its partners won two SPLC awards this year. RPN and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN) were jointly awarded SPLC's Leadership Award for Public Interest Advocacy for their collaboration on the Sustainable Procurement Playbook for Cities, a new resource that is helping cities, counties, and other local governments develop and implement more effective sustainable purchasing policies, programs and practices.
 The City of San Francisco and RPN won an Outstanding Case Study Award from SPLC for Charging Ahead: How To Find Powerful Rechargeable Batteries That Go On...And On, which highlights key
performance indicators for rechargeable batteries. San Francisco Department of the Environment staff noted in the case study that the City's initial pilot testing of high-performance rechargeable batteries recommended in the report have been promising.
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Arizona State University Initiative
Helps Cities Buy Green
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Arizona State University recently launched the
Sustainable Purchasing Research Initiative, a new project that helps cities buy environmentally preferable goods and services.
Its report,
Advancing Green Purchasing in Local Governments, outlines eight best practices local governments can implement for green purchasing success based on
survey responses from 459 cities. Best practices include building on complementary policies and practices; using certifications and green product lists; and tracking spending related to green purchases. A
podcast, video tips, slide deck, and webinar related to the report is available on the project's website as well as other green purchasing research and resources.
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California Launches Million Lamp Challenge
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The University of California and California Department of General Services (DGS) have teamed up to launch a
Million Lamp Challenge, which aims
to replace 1,000,000 inefficient light bulbs
with high-performance LEDs in state agency and higher education buildings throughout California.
Two key goals of this initiative are to harmonize the standards for LED lamps (ensuring that products offered on state contracts perform well) and drive down the cost of this environmentally preferable product by aggregating demand.
Both
DGS
and the
University of California have issued purchasing standards for this program that follow
the California Energy Commission's
Voluntary California Quality LED Lamp Specification, which aligns closely with ENERGY STAR's current criteria. These standards set minimum requirements for energy efficiency (measured in lumens/watt), color quality, rated life, and several other performance indicators.
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Mobile Phones Added to EPEAT Registry
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Along with desktops, laptops, imaging equipment, and televisions, purchasers can now find environmentally preferable mobile phones using the Electronic Produ
ct Environmental Assessment Tool (
EPEAT)
. The EPEAT mobile phone criteria are based on the ANSI-accredited UL 110 Standard for Sustainability for Mobile Phones, a multi-attribute sustainability standard that evaluates a cell phone's compliance with stringent environmental and
health criteria throughout its life cycle.
By choosing a sustainable mobile phone, purchasers
help decrease
the use of toxic substances, minimize pac
kaging, avoid conflict minerals, support fair labor practices,
prevent e-
waste,
and more. The list of EPEAT-registered mobile phones is small, but includes models from Apple, LG, and Samsung. The Green Electronics Council, which manages the EPEAT program, expects the list to grow over the coming year.
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RPN Green Cleaning in Schools
Webinar Slides Now Available
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