Many common cleaning and maintenance products contain chemicals that are potentially harmful to both human health and the environment. Consider consulting with your local public health officials and current suppliers about less toxic alternatives to the products your team buys. You may also want to incorporate specifications for less toxic products in contracts and requests for proposals. The sample letter and contract specifications below should serve as a useful guide.

For a list of environmentally preferable cleaning and maintenance products, visit Green Seal. You may also wish to consult EPA’s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Database, which contains product specifications and contract language for a wide variety of additional products.

Cleaning and maintenance products can contain a wide variety of toxic compounds that can impact the health of employees and stadium occupants. Visit Green Seal and EPA’s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Database to find out which cleaning products are right for your team.

Dear _______,

The Toronto Blue Jays have initiated an effort to improve our environmental performance in all aspects of our operations. We would like to meet with you to discuss these objectives in more detail. We would also like to discuss ways to cost-effectively switch to less toxic and harmful products within the next few years

We would like to reduce as much as possible the harmful effects on the environment and public health that are associated with our operations, and we would like to speak with you about less-toxic alternatives to the products that we are currently using.

Please call me as soon as you can so that we can set a time for a meeting to pursue this discussion.

Very Truly Yours,

Purchasing less toxic products benefits both public health and the environment. Most commonly used cleaning and maintenance products contain potentially hazardous chemicals. In addition to the human effects, many of these products – or their toxic byproducts – can migrate into nearby waters, harming aquatic life.

Green Seal
Greening Your Purchase of Cleaning Products
Green Cleaning Pollution Prevention Calculator
EPA – Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Database
Department of the Interior Request for Proposals for Janitorial Products
Safe and Effective Restroom Cleaning
Safe and Effective Carpet Cleaning
Safe and Effective Disinfecting
National Institute of Health - ToxNet
EPA – Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines: Suppliers Database
Environmental Benefits and Cost Savings Calculator for Purchasers
EPA – Hazardous Waste
OSHA – Hazardous Waste