EVERYDAY PRODUCTS ARE FULL OF HARMFUL CHEMICALS. CAN GREEN CHEMISTRY LEAD THE WAY TO SAFER ALTERNATIVES?
To make products better for human health and the environment, you have to know what your suppliers are using to make what they send your way. But “20 years ago, most companies didn’t have a clue about what was in their products … unless there was a legal requirement,” says Mark Rossi, executive director of Clean Production Action and co-author of GreenScreen.
Chemical formulations are often proprietary, which is part of why companies might not know what’s in their supply chains. Still, “the idea that you would disclose the chemistry in products was heavily resisted,” says Rossi. Chemical formulations are often proprietary, which is part of why companies might not know what’s in their supply chains. Still, “the idea that you would disclose the chemistry in products was heavily resisted,” says Rossi.
In recent years, however, manufacturing has seen what Rossi calls “a sea change in transparency.”
Levi’s, for example, relies on hundreds of suppliers to produce its jeans. Mills spin cotton into yarn, dye it and apply various coatings, such as water repellents. Other vendors cut and sew the jeans, and laundries apply chemicals that give the jeans their look and feel.