Greener chemicals, cosmetics and electronics are all being targeted by recent bills in Congress. First up, the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act of 2010 has been introduced in the House, mostly mimicking a similar bill in the Senate that's intended to drastically overhaul the EPA's chemical policies by making companies responsible for showing their chemicals are safe to use.

Next, the House also saw the introduction of the Safe Cosmetics Act, which would strengthen the FDA's oversight of cosmetics and require companies to provide safety information on their ingredients.

And last, while the main purpose of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is financial reform, it will also require companies to report if they use gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum (so-called "conflict minerals") sourced from Congo in electronics and other products.

What Makes a Sustainable Company?

A draft of the first sustainability standard for manufacturing companies was made public yesterday, opening a 45-day comment period. The standard, ULE 880, was developed through a partnership between GreenBiz.com and UL Environment, part of Underwriter Laboratories. See what GreenBiz.com Executive Editor Joel Makower has to say about the launch, which is eight years in the making. 

Laboratory tests revealed 38 secret chemicals in 17 name brand fragrance products, topped by American Eagle Seventy Seven with 24, Chanel Coco with 18, and Britney Spears Curious and Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio with 17.

This book from Seventh Generation's Jeffrey Hollender and Bill Breem equips people with the tactics, models, and mind-sets they need to compete in a world where consumers now demand that companies contribute to the greater good.

This one-day program is designed to introduce business, government and community leaders to sustainability and The Natural Step Framework. This course gives participants a common language to share with their stakeholders and provides the tools they need to be the change agents in their organization. Participants will learn how to utilize the framework to evaluate their company's practices, determine how to align their current practices with the framework and develop an individualized measurement tool.