Green Building Products and Services

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Integrated Pest Management: Indoors

Too often when confronting infestations of weeds, insects, or rodents, workplaces resort to using chemicals. Experience quickly teaches that this approach provides at best a temporary solution. Worse, reliance on chemicals creates potential health and environmental risks both indoors and outdoors.

Cleaners

Traditional cleaning chemicals can pose a threat to workers' health; reproductive disorders, major organ harm, and permanent eye damage are just a few examples. Compounds in cleaning products also end up in lakes, streams, water bodies, and landfills. By using non-toxic, environmentally preferable, "green" cleaning products, facilities can avoid these problems.

Plastic Waste Bags

A staple in most workplaces, plastic waste bags offer an ideal opportunity for environmentally preferable purchasingThe act and the function of responsibility for the acquisition of equipment, materials, supplies, and services. In a narrow sense, the term describes the process of buying. In a broader sense, the term describes determining the need, selecting the supplier, arriving at a fair and reasonable price and terms, preparing the contract or purchase order, and following up to ensure timely delivery.. Whether for use in trash cans or recycling bins, high quality recycled-content plastic waste bags are widely available. Their use conserves energy and promotes recycling. Workplaces can save money by instructing staff to replace bags only when they are too dirty or full for the work setting in which they are used.

Garbage and Recycling Services

By implementing a waste management program with reuseProducts or materials that, after serving their original function, can be used again in their present form; some are designed to be reused repeatedly, while others not specifically designed for reuse are creatively used to fill a need. and recycling components, facilities can significantly reduce waste. Recycling and "green" waste management save natural resources and energy and puts less strain on the environment.

Paint

American businesses and households spend approximately $18 billion annually on nearly 15 million tons of paints and other coatings.

Lighting

With lighting typically accounting for 30% to 50% of energy use in most buildings, finding ways to increase lighting efficiency can result in significant savings.

Carpet

In one year alone, Minnesotans discard about 180,000 tons of carpet and its by-products. Purchasers can help reduce this amount through their buying choices. Carpet is purchased in either broadloom rolls or tiles. By replacing carpet tiles as they wear, facilities avoid costly replacements of large areas of broadloom or entire new carpeting for worn sections.

Office Furniture and Panel Systems

Each year, U.S. businesses discard an estimated three million tons of furniture. Help reduce this amount by refurbishing existing furniture or purchasingThe act and the function of responsibility for the acquisition of equipment, materials, supplies, and services. In a narrow sense, the term describes the process of buying. In a broader sense, the term describes determining the need, selecting the supplier, arriving at a fair and reasonable price and terms, preparing the contract or purchase order, and following up to ensure timely delivery. recycled furniture and panel systems.

Bathroom Fixtures and Partitions

The most common and effective way a facility can save water and heating costs is by installing energy-efficient bathroom fixtures, such as low-flow toilets, urinals, faucets, and showerheads that use automatic sensors to control water use.

Hand Drying

At many workplaces, paper towels are the highest volume waste material produced in kitchen, restroom, maintenance shop, and clean-up areas. Seeking to cut waste and save money, many workplaces have reconsidered their paper towel usage. By switching to cloth towels or electric hand dryers, they have reduced or even eliminated waste disposalThe act of getting rid of unwanted items and material having no value in excess of their basic material content. Mixed municipal solid waste (MSW) is typically disposed of at landfills, mixed-waste composting facilities, or energy recovery facilities., labor, and towel costs.

using the symbols

Less Hazardous
Products containing hazardous chemicals can pose health risks to employees and the public, as well as threaten the environment. In addition, hazardous products often require special and costly waste disposal methods. Buy products that are labeled with none of the following signal words or those with the lowest level of hazard possible (but that still get the job done).
- Caution: mild to moderate hazard
- Warning: moderate hazard
- Danger: corrosive, extremely flammable, or highly toxic
- Poison: highly toxic
If less-hazardous alternatives are not readily available, use the least amount of a hazardous product needed to accomplish a task. Use up all of the product before throwing the container or packaging away.
Conserves Energy
Reducing energy use is important because most energy production contributes to problems such as carbon dioxide emissions (tied to global warming), mercury releases, acid rain, volatile organic compounds, and nuclear waste. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy developed the Energy Star label to help purchasers identify energy-efficient products. These products reduce utility bills and help the environment.
Recycled Content
Recycled-content products save energy and resources, while also keeping waste out of landfills and incinerators. Recycled-content products can be made with post-consumer content, pre-consumer content, or a mix of both. Products made with post-consumer recycled content support our recycling programs at home and at work. If people do not buy products with post-consumer recycled content, manufacturers will no longer want the paper, cans, glass, or plastic we separate from trash. Pre-consumer content comes primarily from manufacturer scrap, and as such does not directly support such recycling efforts.
Prevents Waste
Minnesota generates over 5 million tons of municipal solid waste annually, and this amount is increasing every year. Much of this waste comes from disposable and over-packaged products. Preventing waste can conserve natural resources and avoid the need to build new, expensive waste disposal facilities. You prevent waste when:
- Reducing the amount of material you buy to accomplish any task;
- Reusing a product in its original form; or
- Using repairable, refillable, or durable products.
Low Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
VOCs evaporate ("volatilize") easily at room temperature and often have a sharp smell. They are contained in many products, such as office equipment, adhesives, carpeting, upholstery, manufactured wood products, paints, solvents, pesticides, and cleaning products. Some VOCs can cause cancer in certain situations, especially when they are concentrated indoors. When VOCs hit sunlight, they create ozone, an air pollutant harmful to both people and plants. Many low-VOC versions of products reduce risks to human health and the environment.
Conserves Water
Less than 1% of the Earth's water is available for human consumption. There is no "new" water on Earth. Dry spells have reminded us that our water supply can be threatened - even in the Land of 10,000 Lakes - resulting in watering bans in some municipalities. Choosing products and services that conserve water, such as automatic flushers and low-flow faucets and toilets, can conserve this vital resource while reducing water and sewer bills.
End of Life Management
What happens to a product after we use it? Some materials cannot go in the trash because they are hazardous in some way and therefore need separate - and sometimes expensive - special management. Some products are more easily recycled than others that do the same job. Making wiser buying choices can prevent a disposal concern at the end of a product's useful life, keep hazardous materials out of the environment, and expand options for recycling and reuse.

Use these symbols throughout this Guide to reduce your impact.
Rollover to learn more or view the complete symbols list.

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Guide published by the Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board, 4/00. The SWMCB includes members from the Minnesota metropolitan counties of Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, and Washington, with ex-officio members from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

Last Revised July 8, 2008 - 3:07pm

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