Safer Chemicals

The BizNGO Guide to Safer Chemicals—is a unique resource for downstream users of chemicals. It is a hands-on-guide that charts pathways to safer chemicals in products and supply chains for brand name companies, product manufacturers, architects and designers, retailers, and health care organizations.

Chemicals are at the core of our materials, products, and manufacturing systems, and as such should be at the core of our sustainability programs. Yet many a downstream business, those organizations that use chemicals by virtue of the products they purchase, has avoided starting this journey thinking that the path to greener and safer chemicals is too clouded in complexity and uncertainty. The Guide is our response to these uncertainties and is intended for both novices and experts.

The Guide:
√ marks pathways to safer chemicals in products and supply chains.
√ sets relative benchmarks for each of the four BizNGO Principles for Safer Chemicals.
√ specifies actions for each benchmark.
√ presents examples of business practices for each benchmark.
√ illustrates how downstream users are getting started and advancing on their paths to safer chemicals.

Users of The Guide will learn how to:
√ measure internal performance, identify areas of improvement, and track progress to safer chemicals.
√ benchmark performance in comparison to other organizations.
√ communicate to the public their organization’s performance in moving to safer chemicals based on an independent metric.

The question of how to implement the Principles for Safer Chemicals is the inspiration for The Guide.
As many a potential traveler has said to us: “We agree with the spirit of the BizNGO Principles. But what does it mean to implement them?” This guide is our initial (v.1.0) answer to that question.