The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced 33 Safer Choice Partner of the Year award winners across 16 states and the District of Columbia for achievement in the design, manufacture, selection, and use of products with safer chemicals, as part of Pollution Prevention Week.
The Safer Choice program helps consumers and purchasers for facilities, such as schools and office buildings, find products that perform and are safer for human health and the environment. The EPA says this year’s awardees have all shown a commitment to pollution prevention by reducing, eliminating, or preventing pollution at its source prior to recycling, treatment, or disposal.
“Today, we recognize the leadership and accomplishments of Safer Choice partners and stakeholders for their work helping consumers and commercial buyers identify products with safer chemical ingredients, without sacrificing quality or performance,” says Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Michal Freedhoff.
Applicants for this year’s awards were encouraged to show how their work with safer chemistry promotes environmental justice, bolsters resilience to the impacts of climate change, results in cleaner air or water, or improves drinking water quality. The EPA says the work of many of the organizations being recognized addressed climate change, including by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Additionally, several awardees have worked to increase access to products with safer chemical ingredients in underserved communities. In the coming year, the EPA hopes to build on this work by expanding the Safer Choice program to make products containing safer chemicals increasingly available to underserved communities, including communities of color and low-income communities.
The 2021 Partner of the Year award winners represent a wide variety of leadership organizations from each of the 10 EPA regions. These include businesses, comprising small and midsize companies and women-owned companies; state and local governments; non-governmental organizations; associations; and others. The following organizations are being recognized this year:
- Albertsons Companies, Boise, Idaho
- American Cleaning Institute, Washington, DC
- Apple, Cupertino, Calif.
- The Ashkin Group, Channel Islands Harbor, Calif.
- BASF Home Care and I&I Cleaning Solutions, Florham Park, N.J.
- Bona, Englewood, Colo.
- Case Medical, Bloomfield, N.J.
- Church & Dwight Co., Inc., Ewing, N.J.
- The Clorox Company, Oakland, Calif.
- Defunkify, Eugene, Ore.
- Dirty Labs Inc., Portland, Ore.
- ECOS, Cypress, Calif.
- Grove Collaborative, San Francisco, Calif.
- Hazardous Waste Management Program, King County, Wash.
- The Home Depot, Atlanta, Ga.
- Household & Commercial Products Association, Washington, DC
- Jelmar, LLC, Skokie, Ill.
- Lake Monroe Sailing Association, Bloomington, Ind.
- Lemi Shine, Austin, Texas
- LightHouse For The Blind And Visually Impaired, San Francisco, Calif.
- LSI, Morristown, N.J.
- Novozymes North America, Raleigh, N.C.
- Oregon Department of Environmental Quality-Toxics Use Reduction Program, Ore.
- The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
- PurposeBuilt Brands, Gurnee, Ill.
- Roger McFadden and Associates, LLC, Canby, Ore.
- Rust-Oleum Corporation, Vernon Hills, Ill.
- Sea Mar Community Health Centers, Seattle, Wash.
- Sensitive Home, Greenbrae, Calif.
- Seventh Generation, Burlington, Vt.
- University of Washington Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Continuing Education Programs, Seattle, Wash.
- Wegmans Food Markets, Rochester, N.Y.
- Wexford Labs, Inc., Kirkwood, Mo.
More information on the 2021 Safer Choice Partner of the Year award winners and summaries of their accomplishments are available here.