Long before green design became popular, a culture that would nourish it had formed at Herman Miller. Product design at Herman Miller has long been seen in the light of constraints, problem solving, and long-term value. The designer Charles Eames, renowned for his “Eames Chairs”, saw constraints as a constructive force in design. …
In the mid 1990’s, Dell shipped its first computers and displays free of a host of toxic brominated flame-retardants. Since then, Dell has worked with its customers, regulators, investors and environmental advocates to develop a broader list of restricted materials and implement a program with suppliers to reduce their use in Dell products. …
The Premier healthcare alliance is committed to protecting the environment and maintaining a safe and healthy climate for patients, workers and communities. Premier and its members are leaders in the industry, setting the bar for environmentally preferable purchasing and healthcare practices and working to transform healthcare. …
Novation is committed to helping hospitals create an environment free from hazards posed by chemicals that are harmful to humans, animals, and the environment. Chemicals management is a considerable undertaking for the health care industry, largely because of the volume of hazardous and potentially harmful chemicals used daily as part of standard hospital procedures. These include cleaners, disinfectants, and latex and phthalates in medical devices, among many others. Novation’s approach… …
Environmental activism emerged within Kaiser Permanente four decades ago when the organization invited Rachel Carson to deliver the keynote address to a large symposium of physicians and scientists. Today the 8.5 million member organization with 145,000 employees and $31B in annual revenues has become a national environmental leader in the health care sector. Driving Kaiser Permanente to invest in the environment is the recognition that the health of its members is affected by the health of the… …
In 2004 the first nationwide tests for brominated flame retardants in dust swiped from computers in public buildings in 8 US states, revealed that computers are likely to be a significant source of deca-BDE and other brominated flame retardant chemical exposure in the dust of homes, offices, schools, and businesses. There is evidence that these chemicals could be hazardous to human health and even the World Health Organization recommends their substitution. …