As everyone is trying to go "green" these days and save the environment, it is more important than ever for companies to use environmentally safe chemicals. Companies have to make sure that they are complying with Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and ISO 14001, which sets a series of environmental standards for businesses and the impact on the environment from the chemicals that they use.

Your company can benefit from using earth safe chemicals because they help you to minimize environmental claims against your company, have less pollution in the environment and cut your waste management costs. Before you purchase environmental safe chemicals, you should consider:

1. Know your federal and state regulatory laws concerning environmentally safe chemicals information.

2. Get an environmentally safe chemicals list and include these chemicals in your budget more than chemicals that are not biodegradable and not safe for the ozone.

3. Calculate how using environmentally safe chemicals can help your company to cut costs long term.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get an environmentally safe chemicals provider

Find an environmentally safe chemicals provider to help you manage your environmentally safe chemicals. A provider can help you find environmentally safe chemicals and keep you up to date on state and federal regulatory laws.

I recommend: Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (SOCMA) provides a variety of products and services to assist you with obtaining environmentally safe chemicals. Their site contains a wealth of information including current environmentally safe chemical news and resources. Green Chemical Solutions can also help with your environmentally safe chemical needs. Their site includes a catalog and a neat pollution calculator.

Purchase software to aid you in meeting requirements for environmentally safe chemicals

Get software that is easy to use and can assist you in being compliant with regulations and tracking the use of environmentally safe chemicals within your company.

I recommend: ERA Environmental Consulting has several software packages to choose from for environmentally safe chemicals and offers online demos of the products. EMS-HSMS.com is another software provider you can look at for your chemical management solutions. They have environmental implementation software to assist with ISO 14001 compliance and chemical documentation management.

Educate your employees on using environmentally safe chemicals

Train your employees on health and safety regulations when handling environmentally safe chemicals. You can also help your employees understand environmental management strategies and why it is important to use earth friendly chemicals at the job site.

I recommend: ABS Consulting has several corporate training programs that deal with using environmentally safe chemicals and the importance of understanding the laws that govern these chemicals. SAI Global offers corporate environmental safety and management classes you can view online or you can even get one of the teachers to come to your company.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Many consumers look to see if a company is environmentally compliant. By using environmentally friendly chemicals, you can market your company as a 'green company' and increase customer loyalty. Cut costs by using environmentally safe chemicals and save on the cost of managing and disposing of harmful chemicals.