Many common laundry care products release potentially harmful substances into our air and water, and some washers and driers are inefficient and waste water and energy. Use the following letter, product specifications, and resources to ask your team’s suppliers about the products that you are currently using. Find out about available preferable alternatives, and consider including guidelines to encourage the purchase of environmentally preferable products in contracts and requests for proposal.

• Low phosphate content (1% or less)
• Low toxicity to people and aquatic organisms
• Biodegrades into low-toxicity compounds
• Energy Star washers and dryers
• Contains little or no chlorine bleach

Dear _______,

The Boston Red Sox 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 laundry care products as soon as possible.

We are concerned about products used in the laundry room that contain compounds that are harmful to both public health and the environment. These include detergents containing phosphorous and types of bleach that also produce harmful byproducts. We would like to reduce as much as possible the harmful effects associated with our operations, and we would like to speak with you about less-toxic alternatives to the products that we are currently using in our laundry.

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,

Detergents and other laundry care products often contain toxic or otherwise harmful compounds that can find their way into the natural environment, causing damage to aquatic ecosystems. Many detergents, for example, contain a large amount of phosphate, which can cause oxygen depletion in aquatic systems. Oxygen depletion causes excessive algae growth, loss of habitat, and when oxygen levels are too low fish and other animals cannot survive. By reducing the concentrations of phosphates and other harmful compounds in your laundry care products, your team can help reduce these impacts.

Green Seal Environmental Standards
EPA – Key Characteristics of Laundry Detergent Ingredients
EPA – Environmentally Preferable Purchasing
Energy Star’s Commercial Clothes Washers