Third-party certifications for sustainability

By Janice Kleinschmidt

bluesign®
Certifies that textiles are produced with as few contaminants and resources as possible. Main principles cover resource productivity, consumer safety, water and air emissions, and occupational health and safety.

Cradle to Cradle®
Assesses a product’s safety to humans and the environment and its design for future life cycles.

EU Ecolabel
Criteria based on the impact of a product or service on the environment throughout its life cycle.

Green Advantage®
Emphasizes construction field practices as they relate to the role personnel have in improving the environmental and health attributes of the built environment.

Greenguard
Certifies products and materials for low chemical emissions.

ISO 14000
Establishes that an organization minimizes harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities and achieves continual improvement of its environmental performance.

LEED
U.S. Green Building Council certification that a building, home or community is designed and built using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human and environmental health.

Oeko-Tex®
Assesses the environmental friendliness and sustainability of a product through the textile processing chain.

Sustainable Green Printing
Supplies standards for best practices within print manufacturing operations.

Janice Kleinschmidt is a freelance writer and editor in Palm Springs, Calif.