{"id":9599,"date":"2019-09-18T11:07:06","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T10:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eurideastranslation.com\/?p=9599"},"modified":"2019-09-18T11:07:06","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T10:07:06","slug":"chemical-footprint-the-next-level-in-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eurideas.com\/fr\/chemical-footprint-the-next-level-in-sustainability\/","title":{"rendered":"Chemical footprint: the next level in sustainability"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since 2012, when the concept of ecological footprints was born, we have been accustomed to hearing about our carbon emissions. However, the footprint family incorporates more than that, with the chemical footprint also being a part of it. What is that, and why should we care? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chemical footprint\nis an indicator of how much \u201cchemicals of high concern\u201d (COHC) a company is using\nduring production or is selling as a retailer. There are over 10,000 different\nchemicals used every day in the world, and by now, the connection between some\nof these and environmental or health damage is apparent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So benchmarking and\nmeasurements, such as the Chemical Footprint Project<\/a>, gives an overview of the efforts businesses\nmake to commit to a more sustainable way of chemical use. The project evaluates\ncompanies in four areas: management strategy, chemical inventory, footprint\nmeasurement (as reduction goals), and public disclosure and verification. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Producers of chemicals\nare obvious targets for such expectations. On the other hand, businesses in\ndifferent industries are also responsible for unwanted emissions. Manufacturers\nof clothing, including the likes of Adidas, C&A, Levi\u2019s, or Puma, have\nalready joined the voluntary initiative, the ZDHC Roadmap to\nZero Programme<\/a>, and\ncommitted to the zero discharge of dangerous substances. Production of building\nmaterials and furniture, cleaning supplies, medical devices, hardware, or toys\nare also called out. They should take part in monitoring their supply chains\nand help to minimise damage from chemicals \u2014 and do it all transparently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going downstream,\nnon-industrial players such as smaller retailers and service providers can also\nput their two cents in. A hairdressing salon that sources products with only\nsafe chemicals. A food delivery service that uses paper products instead of\nplastic. A school that cleans with green supplies. It is a new field to explore\nand being proactive in finding sustainable ways of doing business is crucial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also\nmeasures you can take in your own household to reduce chemical damage. Using\nless of everything is the first step and one where a little goes a long way.\nFrom washing to cleaning and grooming, make educated choices about the products\nyou use. There are guidelines to follow when reading product labels and looking\nfor possibly harmful ingredients. You can also try and make products at home\nthat contain only additives you trust. Cleaning promises especially good\nreturns on your efforts if you make use of lemon, vinegar, and washing soda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Individual efforts add up to a healthier environment, but country policies increasingly back this up. For example, chemical regulatory landscapes have been changing in national economies and even on a broader scale. In Europe, the emission of potentially hazardous chemicals amounts to 200 million tonnes a year with associated health damage, and 120 million tonnes that is possibly harming the environment. So, the EU is working on new measures to calculate the chemical footprint of products and businesses in its Member States. It uses data from REACH and EFSA, and communicates the findings to help consumers navigate the risks. Chemical management at all levels of the society is moving up the agenda and is triggering a set of measures that will, hopefully, make life healthier for generations to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by Anik\u00f3 J\u00f3ri-Moln\u00e1r<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since 2012, when the concept of ecological footprints was born, we have been accustomed to hearing about our carbon emissions. However, the footprint family incorporates more than that, with the chemical footprint also being a part of it. What is that, and why should we care? The chemical footprint is an indicator of how much […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eurideas.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eurideas.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eurideas.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eurideas.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eurideas.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eurideas.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eurideas.com\/fr\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eurideas.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eurideas.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eurideas.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}