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A searchable website that allows the public to see which cosmetic products have been reported to contain toxic chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm is now online. Users can search the California Safe Cosmetics Program (CSCP) Product Database by product name, company name or chemical ingredient. As of November 2013, about 475 companies had submitted product information on roughly 30,000 products to the California Department of Public Health-run program.

Wal-Mart has introduced a line of "all-natural," chemical-free cleaning products under its Great Value label. The products, which are priced more cheaply than brand-name eco-friendly cleaning products, use Wal-Mart's proprietary Evolve technology, which the company says allows the products to work as effectively as petroleum-based cleaners.

Air Products has signed contracts with more than 20 recycled copper manufacturers in China to provide its oxy-fuel product that it says improves productivity and material qualities compared to conventional air-fuel technologies. It also decreases harmful emissions and reduces energy consumption and fuel costs.

Target partnered with product-rating website GoodGuide to develop a new Sustainability Product Standard for household cleaning, personal care & beauty, and baby care items. Products will be assessed according to chemicals used, transparency, packaging, environmental impact, and animal testing.

Target announced its new forest products policy, which sets guidelines for the company's purchasing decisions to ensure wood-based products in it's owned-brand products are sourced from forests that are well-managed and credibly certified. Separately, the company also announced plans to work with its value chain to phase out polystyrene foam use in e-commerce packaging.

A new study reveals that consumers' demand for product transparency is on the rise - overall, they desire more product information and are inclined to be more loyal to brands that provide more detailed insights. About 40 percent say they would switch to a new brand if it offered full product transparency, and 81 percent say they would consider a brand's entire portfolio of products if they switched to that brand as a result of increased transparency.

The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute has announced the winners of the third Cradle to Cradle Product Design Challenge. 138 design professionals and students in 19 countries worked to submit 79 entries for this third round of the contest, which challenges design students and professionals to apply Cradle to Cradle principles to conceptualize and develop product solutions that can help drive the circular economy. More than 230 designers from 30 countries have participated in the Challenges to date.

General Mills and Nestlé pledged to not use synthetic vanilla flavoring in their jointly owned Häagen-Dazs products. Proponents of synthetic vanilla argue that it could reduce land impacts associated with vanilla bean production, while opponents maintain that the product could reduce biodiversity by incentivizing new sugarcane production.

Retail giant Target has partnered with GoodGuide, the products-rating website acquired last year by Underwriters Laboratories, to create a rating systems for thousands of consumer products, the retailer has announced.

Exercising before work raises an employee's productivity by an average of 15 percent.

The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute is now offering its Cradle to Cradle Certified Catalyst Program free of charge. The program helps product developers, designers, and manufacturers better understand and implement the Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Program within their organization.

Over 125 cosmetics and personal care products from 14 brands such as Beautycounter, Rejuva MInerals, and MyChelle Dermaceuticals have earned the Environmental Working Group (EWG)'s new verification. The EWG VERIFIED™ program aims to help customers quickly and easily identify products that meet strict ingredient standards and are "produced with the best manufacturing practices."

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously voted to outlaw a host of commonly used foam products, in a move hailed as the nation's most extensive such ban. The ban applies to polystyrene food packaging, packing peanuts, to-go containers, coffee cups and pool toys, among other things. For most products, the ban will take effect Jan. 1, 2017.

Starting this year, Unilever is voluntarily disclosing online the fragrance ingredients included in individual products sold in the U.S. and Europe, down to 0.01 percent of the product formulation, along with details of the scent the fragrance ingredients bring to the product. The project is to be completed by 2018.

Green cleaning products are no longer a niche interest, with many consumers willing to pay a little extra to pick up chemical-free or otherwise eco-friendly cleaning products, writes Stephen Ashkin. That shift is partly due to the rise of eco-labels and certification programs, which helped cleaning companies slice through the complexities of green chemistry. "With the advent of certification, standards and ecolabels, buyers have been given more tools to choose appropriate products," Ashkin explains.

CEH filed lawsuits against four personal care product manufacturers after it found evidence of a toxic substance, cocamide Diethanolamine (cocamide DEA) in their shampoos, soaps and other personal care products. The nonprofit firm also sent letters to approximately 100 firms whose products also tested positive.

The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute will offer a material health certificate, a tool for manufacturers across industries to avoid chemicals of high concern, shift to safer ones in their products and encourage product and supply chain transparency.

In an effort to help companies use safer chemicals, the Clean Production Action (CPA), has released the next version of the GreenScreen for Safer Chemicals Hazard Assessment Guidance, adding information for using the GreenScreen List Translator as a first step in identifying hazardous chemicals in products.

Palm Oil Free Certification programme launches in UK and Australia A new certification programme has launched to validate consumer products that make no use of palm oil, which has been blamed for fuelling deforestation in Asia. Set up by a group of women experts, the Palm Oil Free Certification Accreditation Programme (POFCAP) is now in operation in Australia and the UK following approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, IP Australia, and IPO UK. Fourteen other nations have applied to introduce the label. Australia-based eco cleaning products company Clean Conscience is the first to carry the label, and the group is working with a host of other companies on certification. Despite improvements to tackle deforestation, POFCAP said "only 17% of all palm oil used can be classed as 'non-conflict'". The scheme is based on extensive research and trusted methods to trace all potential palm oil and palm oil derivative ingredients of a product back to their source. (Business Green)

People working in green buildings think better in the office and sleep better when they get home, a new study has revealed. The research indicates that better ventilation, lighting and heat control improves workers' performance and could boost their productivity by thousands of dollars a year. It also suggests that more subjective aspects, such as beautiful design, may make workers happier and more productive.