Why is the Hazardous-Substance-Free (HSF) Mark™ Important to All Consumers?
"Green" is used frequently in today's world. There are "Green" days, "Green" programs, "Green" businesses and "Green" products, as well as "Green" awareness and "Green" strategy. The Green movement began in the late 1960s with a growing consumer awareness of environmental and product safety concerns. To the general public, "Green" has come to signify safe, natural and environmentally-friendly products, businesses and industries. When people think of "Green," it's usually in the context of clean air and water; safe food, clothing, and cosmetics; protection from carcinogens; and responsible management of earth's resources.
"Green" is also being applied to eco-friendly activities, buildings, cities, nations and even groups of nations. The European Union (EU) is an example of an organization of nations with an agenda that places a significant emphasis on being "Green".
Green: Consumer Driven
The "Green" movement has considerably influenced the purchasing decisions of consumers. The movement has elevated people's awareness of "Green" issues and has encouraged them to carefully consider product safety concerns when making purchasing decisions. Concerns about the negative impact of waste disposal practices have been heightened by an increased awareness of the "Green" movement. In Europe, the increased awareness of waste management issues led to the introduction of the WEEE directives adopted and required by the EU.
Consumers are now, more than ever, concerned about the possibility of products containing hazardous substances. This concern is reinforced by the frequent news reports regarding contaminated food and cosmetics, chemicals in clothing, heavy metals in children's toys and mercury, lead and other hazardous substances contained in household appliances and electronics. Although there is an increased level of regulation being introduced by governments and organizations throughout the world to address people's concerns, a well known example being the RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) directive put in place by the EU, consumers remain skeptical that enough is being done to ensure that the products they purchase are free of hazardous substances. This continued skepticism; along with conscientious product choices have the power to drive the market toward increased responsibility in providing hazardous substance free products.
Hazardous Substance Proliferation
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The amount of hazardous substances in the products that consumers use every day is significantly impacting people's health throughout the world. Affected products include household appliances, household electronics, personal computers, printers, network equipment, telephones, cell phones, pagers, portable electronic devices (PADs), video game equipment, toys, electric tools, sewing machines, medical devices, lighting, smoke detectors, thermostats, electric scales, just to list some of the items identified by WEEE and RoHS. Obsolescence of products is becoming a major issue as technology continues to accelerate. More than 250 million personal computers became obsolete between 1999 and 2005. This had a major impact on landfills throughout the world. This impact continues as billions of electronic devices become obsolete every year, only to be replaced by the latest technology. If the products becoming obsolete are designed and manufactured to be free of hazardous substances and the waste management of these products includes responsible reuse and recycling, the global impact of obsolescence is significantly reduced.
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Consumers: Key Motivators
Consumers are a powerful motivator to drive governments to enact protective legislation in the area of hazardous-substance-free products, but consumers are also strong motivators to drive industry to voluntarily embrace the "Green" movement by eliminating hazardous substances in the products that are manufactured and sold. When companies understand the importance consumers have placed on hazardous-substance-free products, they feel a moral obligation to be socially responsible, as well as have a compelling financial incentive to provide the products that satisfy the consumer's "Green" preferences.
All of the partners involved in the HSF program have voluntarily implemented an international process management program which has been independently certified as producing hazardous-substance-free products, authorizing them to place the HSF Mark on their products. The HSF Mark is the consumer's assurance that the product was produced in a controlled environment to ensure hazardous-substance-free compliance from specification and design through delivery to the customer.
