HFI, IEHA back ISSA’s Transpare Informed Purchaser Program

by Shane Henson — October 18, 2013—The Healthy Facilities Institute (HFI) and the International Executive Housekeepers Association (IEHA) have announced mutual support of worldwide cleaning association ISSA’s Transpare Informed Purchaser Program by featuring information about Transpare on their Web sites.

Developed by Ecoform with the support of ISSA, Transpare is a free, Web-based product registry that makes it easy to find and research cleaning products, and select the best products for a facility. It does this by communicating the specific environmental, health, and safety attributes of cleaning products in an easy-to-understand manner that allows purchasers to directly compare products’ environmental performance. Simple explanations are accessible through pop-up descriptions for each product attribute, making it easy to decide which attributes are most important for a facility, says ISSA.

“Being able to see clearly into a matter without obstruction, cloudiness, or distortion is the meaning of transparency. ISSA’s Transpare aims to help professionals see clearly into the world of green claims without distortion—to create ‘green claims transparency’ by providing clear, standardized green purchasing and labeling information,” said Allen Rathey, president of HFI.

HFI and IEHA strongly recommend industry professionals become actively involved with the Transpare Informed Purchaser Program, and are pleased to be able to offer their site visitors information about the program.

According to David Schweizer, account executive for environmental services at ISSA, to become an Informed Purchaser and be recognized for a commitment to protect the environment, an organization needs to sign a pledge stating that it will—where possible—use Transpare to research, identify, and select cleaning products.

Informed Purchasers will receive a certificate of recognition and an Informed Purchaser logo for use on promotional materials such as Web sites and business cards. Informed Purchasers will also have the opportunity to participate in articles and case studies about Transpare and thereby receive further recognition of their commitment to sustainability, Schweizer adds.

For an in-depth look at the Transpare program, see ISSA’s “Transpare: An Invaluable Tool for Today’s Green Marketplace” article on FMLink.