The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the winners of the 2024 Safer Choice Partner of the Year awards, recognizing organizations in Oregon and Washington for their contributions to promoting safer chemical products. The awards honor efforts in designing, manufacturing, promoting, selecting, and using products that are safer for human health and the environment.
The Safer Choice program aims to help consumers and purchasers identify cleaning and other products with safer chemical ingredients. This year’s applicants were encouraged to demonstrate how their work promotes environmental justice, resilience to climate change impacts, cleaner air or water, improved drinking water quality, or innovation in packaging.
“We want to raise up these award winners for increasing availability of safer cleaning and other products used in our homes, schools and offices,” said EPA Region 10 Administrator Casey Sixkiller. “This year’s Safer Choice Partner of the Year award winners in the Pacific Northwest went above and beyond by designing safer products and raising awareness of the Safer Choice label.”
Among this year's honorees:
- **Hazardous Waste Management Program (Haz Waste Program) in King County**: Recognized for education, outreach, and technical assistance on green cleaning and reducing exposure to hazardous materials. Their efforts reached over 71,000 households and 863 businesses.
- **North Central Educational Service District (NCESD)**: Acknowledged for providing educational resources on safer chemicals to school districts in north-central Washington. NCESD created a video featuring a Safer Choice partner discussing careers in green chemistry.
- **City of Gresham and Pollution Prevention Resource Center (PPRC)**: Honored for workshops promoting the Safer Choice label. These workshops educated attendees on safer chemicals and product labels.
- **Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Pollution Prevention Resources Center (PPRC)**: Recognized for guiding manufacturers on formulating products for Safer Choice certification. Their outreach reached over 100 manufacturers from the United States and Mexico.
- **Toxic-Free Future**: Commended for updating their Retailer Report Card to encourage retailers to sell Safer Choice-certified products. They also collaborated with the Washington Department of Ecology to highlight Safer Choice certification as an indicator of safer solutions.
- **Earth Friendly Products (ECOS)**: Awarded as an outstanding Safer Choice Formulator-Product Manufacturer. ECOS uses renewable energy at its facilities, significantly reducing carbon dioxide emissions annually.
- **Tidal Vision Products Inc.**: Based in Kent, Washington, recognized as an outstanding innovator by adding two chemicals to EPA’s Safer Chemical Ingredients List.
- **Roger McFadden and Associates LLC**: Based in Oregon, acknowledged for advising businesses about benefits related to safer chemicals and conducting training sessions emphasizing Safer Choice principles.
For more information about these winners' achievements or to watch videos highlighting their accomplishments, visit the EPA's website.
