Representatives from two states (Massachusetts and Minnesota) and a handful of localities (Santa Monica, California, and Seattle and King County, Washington, among others) decided to adopt the Green Seal standard as their guide. Green Seal is a set of specifications designed by a nonprofit organization that works to encourage environmentally responsible products. Now, once vendors prove their products are Green Seal-approved, governments that want to buy green will be able to verify that the products are environmentally sound.
Massachusetts has already issued a request for responses based on the new standard and received 16 bidders, "a good number," says Marcia Deegler, head of the state's environmental purchasing program.
Purchasers from the adopting jurisdictions, which convened under the auspices of the Center for the New American Dream, have a combined annual cleaning-product purchasing power of more than $15 million. "Once other cities and states see how successful Massachusetts was in this process, they can take the same specs and put the bid out, so we hope it will be a time-saver for those other governments," says Deegler.
