2024 Impact Report

Impact Report
2024

Welcome

This year at Green Seal we dove deep into defining safer and more sustainable products. In a rapidly evolving marketplace, yesterday’s definition of leadership can be table stakes today. That’s why we are continuously learning, improving, and innovating to ensure our standards demand true leadership at every stage of the product lifecycle. 

Photograph of Doug Gatlin, Green Seal CEO
Doug Gatlin, Green Seal CEO

To illuminate the comprehensive nature of this work, this year we’ve grouped our actions under four elements of a green product: safer chemicals, responsible sourcing, manufacturing sustainability, and sustainable packaging.  

From eliminating PFAS from the supply chain, to defining sustainable sanitary paper, to accelerating

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Raising the Bar

We are committed to continuously learning, improving, and innovating to address the most intractable health and environmental challenges of our time. Here are initiatives we fostered in 2023 to keep our customers ahead of the curve on product sustainability.

  • PFAS

    With growing evidence that thousands of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances pose a significant threat to human health and the environment, we further strengthened our leadership to address these hazardous “forever chemicals” by initiating a prohibition on PFAS in Green Seal-certified paints and coatings, floor care products, adhesives, and degreasers.

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    Impact Report PFAS

  • Sanitary Paper

    To address the climate change and deforestation impacts of paper products, Green Seal assembled leading brands, retailers, and purchasers to update Green Seal’s sanitary paper certification standard and align on meaningful sustainability leadership criteria and claims for both commercial and household products.  

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    Impact Report sanitary paper

  • Trash Bags and Can Liners

    To address the significant carbon and plastic pollution impacts of trash bags and can liners, we launched a certification program that empowers buyers to quickly identify more sustainable products.

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    Impact Report trash bags

  • Sustainable Packaging Program

    With packaging waste an urgent and growing concern, we worked with leading producers, brands, and stakeholders to design a program to accelerate a global transition to sustainable packaging.

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    Impact Report Sustainable Packaging Program

Our Impacts

Green Seal’s sustainability compass targets four key areas that ensure certified products truly are safer for people and the planet. Here’s how Green Seal-certified products achieved impacts that matter in 2022.

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  • We screen out chemicals that don’t belong in household or professional products, making it simple to make healthier, safer choices with confidence. Certified products are free of carcinogens, mutagens, reproductive toxins, and common toxic ingredients such as phthalates, methanol, and bisphenol A (BPA).  

    9.8 million
    students and teachers protected fromtoxic chemicals/asthma triggers in 2023through their schools’ use of Green Seal-certified cleaning products.

  • Green Seal standards address a product’s global warming potential through criteria for energy use and packaging, limits on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ozone depleting compounds, and along with key product attributes, such as cold-water washing for laundry care products, 100% recycled content for sanitary paper, and refillable dispensers for cleaning products. 

    11.7 million
    metric tons of CO2 emissions saved by
    Green Seal-certified sanitary paper each year
    – the equivalent of taking
    2.8 million cars off the road.*

  • Green Seal-certified products protect water resources by minimizing water use and avoiding chemicals that can harm or kill aquatic wildlife. Green Seal’s strict criteria for bioaccumulating compounds prevent the build-up of contaminants in fish and other organisms, which, in turn, helps protect humans from ingesting unsafe levels of chemicals from lower in the food chain.  

    30.5 billion
    gallons of water saved by
    Green Seal-certified sanitary paper products
    due to 100% recycled content.*

  • Green Seal-certified products use environmentally preferable packaging materials, include recycling instructions, and provide detailed directions for proper use to minimize product waste. Our functional performance criteria ensure that certified products perform as well as or better than conventional alternatives, preventing waste from discarded products that failed to meet consumer expectations.  

    192 million

    pounds of plastic
    saved by Green Seal-certified
    cleaning products each year.**

*Compared to conventional sanitary paper that uses 100% virgin fiber. Based on 2018-2023 manufacturer data
** Based on 2021, 2022, and 2023 data



Your Impacts

Laundry Care

960 kilowatt hours
Amount of electricity your household saves each year from choosing Green Seal-certified laundry detergent designed for cold-water use – enough to charge 82,758 smartphones.

Sanitary Paper

230 pounds
Amount of CO2 emissions you save by choosing Green Seal-certified 100% recycled toilet paper, reducing your carbon footprint by 70% compared to virgin paper.

Paint

757 grams
Amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) you avoid with each gallon of Green Seal-certified paint you choose, protecting your home from harmful chemicals and preserving local air quality.

Power in Partnership

Green Seal strengthened and expanded partnerships to foster the availability of products, services, and spaces that are healthier for people and the planet. 

  • ISEAL

    Green Seal became an ISEAL community member joining a prestigious, committed group of sustainability organizations that are driving positive social and environmental change.  

  • Wayfair

    Green Seal’s partnership with Wayfair means that Green Seal-certified products automatically qualify for inclusion in Wayfair’s Shop Sustainably filter, indicating to shoppers that the products are safer for people and the planet.  

  • Amazon/Climate Pledge Friendly

    Green Seal’s partnership with Amazon expanded to the U.K. and the European Union. Now, Green Seal-certified products display Amazon’s Climate Pledge Friendly badge in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Italy, France, and Spain, signifying to Amazon shoppers that the products meet meaningful sustainability standards.  

  • Health Product Declaration Collaborative

    Green Seal partnered with HPD Collaborative to become an approved Health Product Declarations (HPD) preparer and third-party verifier. This collaboration allows Green Seal to prepare and verify HPDs free of charge for any manufacturer that pursues paint certification. 

  • USGBC

    We partnered with USGBC to ensure our certification standard for paints and coatings earns maximum recognition in the LEED® green building rating system, enabling purchasers, facility managers, and homeowners to confidently choose paints that qualify for multiple LEED points and are verified to the highest standard of health, safety, and functional performance.

  • Booking.com

    Booking.com’s new program highlights Green Seal-certified hotels with a Travel Sustainable badge, signifying to travelers and travel bookers that the hotels meet meaningful sustainability standards.  

  • Whole Foods Market

    Green Seal helped Whole Foods Market execute its company-wide quality standards program, providing independent review and evaluating suppliers of household cleaners against the supermarket chain’s criteria for environmental impact, safety, ingredient labeling, and efficacy testing. 

A Seal Buyers Trust

100+
federal, state, and local
purchasing policies
specify Green Seal
1.5 billion
square feet
of commercial space cleaned
daily by Green Seal-certified
cleaning service providers
33,288
certified products
(by SKU)

Countries with Green Seal-Certified Products and Services

Customer Spotlights

Newly Certified

  • Instant Power
  • JAT Corporate

Newly Participating

Thanks

Thank you to Green Seal’s Board of Directors for their support, guidance, and expertise. Learn about the members of our Board of Directors and our staff here.