This year, we unveiled a new brand identity based on two years of intensive research with consumers, brands, and retailers into helping consumers cut through the chaos in the shopping aisle. Our new brand is an outward reflection of our deep commitment to providing clarity, transparency, and a meaningful designation for consumers seeking safer and more sustainable products, much like we have for the away-from-home market over the last two-plus decades.

We know a certification mark alone won’t solve the challenges in the marketplace. That’s why we make sure our criteria help brands target actions that matter, including:  

• Safer Chemicals: Green Seal-certified cleaning products protected 9.8 million students and teachers from toxic chemicals and asthma triggers. 
• Responsible Sourcing: Green Seal-certified sanitary paper saved 8.5 million metric tons of carbon emissions due to recycled-fiber sourcing – the equivalent of taking 2 million cars off the road. 
• Low-Impact Manufacturing: Green Seal-certified sanitary paper reduced manufacturing water use by 22 billion gallons due to use of recycled fiber. 
• Sustainable Packaging: Green Seal-certified cleaning products saved 213 million pounds of plastic through packaging optimization. 

We’re also raising the bar for product sustainability with initiatives to eliminate PFAS from the supply chain; accelerate the transition to sustainable packaging; and align the consumer-packaged goods and retail communities on the definition of safer and more sustainable products.

Ultimately, our goal is to simplify sustainable shopping for the everyday consumer the way we have in the commercial and institutional arena, so all buyers find it easier to put their wallets where their values are. This report offers insight into how, together with our stakeholders, we envision turning this ambitious goal into reality.

Today, on Earth Day, we are illuminating the comprehensive nature of this work in our 2024 Impact Report. The report breaks out our impacts into the core elements of a green product:

• Safer Chemicals: Green Seal-certified cleaning products protected 9.8 million students and teachers from toxic chemicals and asthma triggers in 2023.
• Responsible Sourcing: Green Seal-certified sanitary paper saves 11.7 million metric tons of carbon emissions each year due to recycled fiber sourcing, the equivalent of taking 2.8 million cars off the road.
• Manufacturing Sustainability: Green Seal-certified sanitary paper, made with 100% recycled fiber, reduces manufacturing water use by 30.5 million gallons each year.
• Sustainable Packaging: Green Seal-certified cleaning products save 192 million pounds of plastic each year.

From eliminating PFAS from the supply chain, to defining sustainable sanitary paper, to accelerating the transition to sustainable packaging, we are helping our customers stay ahead of the curve by raising the bar for products that are safer for people and the planet. Ultimately, this means that no matter which aisle people are shopping, our trusted certification mark helps them cut through the chaos to find products that meet truly comprehensive health and sustainability standards — from beginning to end.

In this report, we are proud to highlight how, together with you, we are accelerating the transition to greater safety and sustainability in our workplaces, our homes – and our collective home planet.

The report highlights the impacts of Green Seal’s programs; key partnerships with organizations including Amazon, Wayfair, the U.S. Green Building Council, ISEAL, Health Product Declaration Collaborative, and others; and the environmental savings achieved by products that bear the Green Seal mark. 

Green Seal exists to empower organizations and people to effect large-scale, transformative change simply through their purchasing choices.  That’s why the report focuses on impacts achieved by Green Seal-certified products, their producers, and their users, including: 

• Ensuring Clean Water: Green Seal-certified sanitary paper products saved 12.4 billion gallons of water in 2022 
• Minimizing Waste: Green Seal-certified cleaning products save 1.7 billion industry-grade 1-liter plastic bottles each year 
• Preserving the Climate: Green Seal-certified sanitary paper saved 12.5 million tons of CO2 emissions annually due to 100% recycled content 
• Protecting Human Health: Green Seal-certified cleaning products protected 9.6 million students and teachers from toxic chemicals and asthma triggers in 2022 

The 2023 Impact Report also highlights Green Seal’s new initiatives — including a sustainable packaging recognition program and leadership-level prohibitions on PFAS in certified products — and features case studies of companies that adhere to Green Seal’s strict science-based standard criteria and demonstrate significant leadership. 

If Green Seal’s market transformation model proves anything, it’s that collective action drives impact. In this year’s report, we highlight how, together with you, we are accelerating the transition to safer and more sustainable products and spaces. 

Over the past year, the topic of indoor air quality has captured our conversations in a way few would have dreamed of before the pandemic. As the world tries to find a new equilibrium, the health and safety profiles of the schools, offices, and public spaces we are returning to has never been more important.

This is a moment that was made for Green Seal, which has always applied science to help people navigate toward choices that promote healthy indoor environments. Over the past year, Green Seal launched standards, certifications, and resources to make it easier for everyone to find safer, healthier products and create spaces where people can thrive during the pandemic and beyond.

Among the most impactful of these initiatives is Green Seal’s Healthy Green Schools & Colleges, the first national healthy-air standard for school facilities. With an accessible learn-as-you-go structure and a focus on low- and no-cost measures, this standard fills a critical gap to provide schools with the information and support they need to ensure the quality of learning environment that every student in America deserves.

To support a heightened focus on workplace health and wellness, Green Seal announced a new certification standard for paints and coatings that fully aligns with the latest version of the LEED® green building rating system and identifies the safest, greenest paint available on the market today.

And, with a growing body of evidence indicating that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are likely to have harmful health and environmental effects, Green Seal took a leadership position with an initiative to prohibit all approximately 12,000 PFAS chemicals in certified products.

Demonstrating that there is power in partnerships, our collaborative efforts with Amazon Climate Pledge Friendly, the U.S. Green Building Council, the International WELL Building Institute, Healthy Schools Campaign, and Health Product Declaration Collaborative are amplifying Green Seal’s impact and accelerating the transition to safer, greener products and spaces.

As we cautiously and hopefully emerge from the worst of the pandemic, the twin pillars of health and environmental sustainability that Green Seal has stood for over the past 30-plus years are more in demand today than ever before. In the 2022 Impact Report, we are proud to highlight the impactful initiatives and partnerships that are making it simpler for consumers, parents, business owners and others to choose healthier, safer products and services with confidence.