Amazon's Climate Pledge Friendly initiative has gotten U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's attention for dovetailing nicely with EPA's Design for the Environment Program.
The Climate Pledge Friendly initiative now includes antimicrobial products such as disinfectants and sanitizers that are EPA-certified under the agency's Design for the Environment program, according to a Nov. 30 news release. The Design for the Environment program's Safer Choice and 46 other sustainability certifications are part of Amazon's Climate Pledge Friendly initiative label included on more than 300,000 sustainable products that customers may browse in the company's online store.
"We're thrilled that Amazon is making it easier to identify antimicrobials that meet our program's stringent criteria for people and the planet in this initiative," EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pollution Prevention Jennie Romer said in the release. "Increasing awareness of EPA's Design for the Environment program through Climate Pledge Friendly will help consumers make environmentally and health-conscious buying decisions. This also encourages companies to seek Design for the Environment certification for their products, reducing pollution at its source and benefiting workers, families and the environment."
Design for the Environment program products must meet certain criteria "that evaluate human health and environmental effects, product performance, packaging and ingredients," the news release said.
Those criteria include minimizing possible human health by excluding ingredients that might negatively impact young children, cause cancer or have other negative effects; protect aquatic life; and minimize pollution of air or waterways while preventing harmful chemicals from reaching land. The products also must "have no unresolved compliance, enforcement or efficacy issues," the news release said.
