The saying I remember growing up, before the term green was coined in the late 70’s as a political movement, was reduce, reuse, recycle. It was taught throughout the school system in an effort to make us more aware of how much we throw away and consume daily.  These same lessons that were applicable in school still work in business today.

For businesses small changes can go a long way. For example, these recycled steel paperclips cost 30% less than new steel paperclips.  While it may be easy to overlook, a 30-cent difference in these two boxes of 100 paperclips, if you are in the purchasing department at a school district and are looking to purchase 20 cases, a 30% savings adds up to a  significant benefit to the bottom line.

Businesses have also started to apply green thinking into their work environments.  Buying the most efficient systems helps reduce your overall costs. For example, take a look at something that most of us tech heads take for granted — our hard drives. Products like the My Book World Edition, which features an enclosed hard drive that has been designed to run cooler and more energy efficient, draws less current, thus reducing the overall cost of ownership for the device over its lifespan.

In addition to saving money through reducing consumable goods, recycling older products and purchasing green-friendly new ones, the sense that you are doing your part to help combat and reverse the negative effects on our environment should give you peace of mind.

Taking the time to turn the lights off when you leave a room, riding a bicycle to work, re-purposing old items and investing in new ones that are the most efficient and / or are produced from recycled goods will make you a better person, and leave a better, cleaner place for our children and their children.

If you are hungry for more resources to save money while going green, here are ten resources that should put some money back into your pocket:

1. 10 Easy Ways to Save Money by Going Green - Inhabitots
2. Your Local Library (And 30+ More Ways to Save Money by Going Green) - The Daily Green
3. 57 Tips on Going Green and Saving Money - Stephen Leahy
4. 10 Ways to Go Green and Save Money at the Same Time - WiseBread
5. Save Money Going Green (10 Ideas) - Low Impact Living
6. Save the Planet - And Save Some Money Too - MSNBC
7. 42 Ways That Going Green Saves A Ton of Money - The Simple Dollar
8. Going Green, Saving Money: Eco-Friendly & Frugal Ideas - The Frugal Duchess
9. Tips on How to Save Money by Going Green - Suzy Orman
10. Living Green, Saving Money - Yahoo

We want to know what ideas you have for going green that actually saves money. Please feel free to share your ideas in the comments section.

It isn’t simply a matter of “stop burning coal, throw up more wind farms”. This panel takes a look at several different angles in this complex issue. It’s over an hour long, but it’s definitely worth listening to and sharing with friends and family.

Video after the jump

Read more about renewable energy on this green blog.

Image courtesy of NIOSH.

Saving the planet is all well and good, but unless you have a magic ring and an 80’s cartoon series it’s not your actual job.  Saving money is much more measurable, especially with recession cutting through the economy like a chainsaw at a soufflé convention, and nowadays you can do that while protecting the planet at the same time.

Eco-friendliness is often associated with happy hippies slightly less financially motivated than their own granola bars, but a few tips and tricks can help any online project manager reduce their footprint and their financial losses:

1.  Go Paperless

As a virtual task manager the paperless office is something you should already understand.  Whether your electronic office is all on your desktop, or you’ve moved onto the next step of entirely web based project management (with the enormous safety and security that brings), you should have kicked that old paper habit.

But some need hard copy like a nicotine fix, printing entire e-mails in order to highlight the relevant passage in bright yellow, stick it into a binder like the world’s most boring scrapbook, then (presumably) squirrel away all the scraps for insulation for their winter nest and hibernation.

You may not think much of the cost of paper, but you should be the sort of person thinking of the second-level effects: less printing means less laser toner cartridges, and based on the cost, those things are made out of Fabergé eggs and filled with ink squeezed from endangered octopuses.  For small businesses, or those involved in online collaboration (meaning you have to pay for your own printer), kicking the paper habit can save a lot of time and money.

2.  Working Remotely

Some say that the internet enables interaction between offices around the world, and while they’re right, that sentence means they’re still missing the point.  Web based task management systems mean that for many there’s no real point in “offices” at all, and we all turn up out of some kind of ingrained business habit.

With the proper project tools, you can effectively administer virtual tasks from anywhere in the world - including your own home.  Business culture is rapidly growing up, realizing that working from home doesn’t mean a doting granny making some temp-money by typing.  It means someone smart enough to look at a budget reading “living expenses $cost, office expenses $more cost” and realize “Hey, I can save thousands of dollars RIGHT NOW.”

If you need the eco-advantages of virtual offices explained to you, we’ll have to start from the beginning.  ”That blue thing above you is the sky”-type beginning.  Not carting yourself back and forth for two hours every day doesn’t just save your time, it saves an enormous amount of emissions - not to mention all the resources and electricity not being used by an extra office.

3.  Measure Three Times, Cut Twice, Print Once

Mistakes are bad.  This has been a Revolutionary Bet-You-Never-Knew-That Public Service Announcement.  But what’s worse than mistakes are huge, glossy, custom-ordered mistakes that arrive in crates and make even the most edge-cutting online collaborative project look like a bunch of first graders.

If you’re obeying step one above, you’ll be better equipped for real electronic error-checking.  While everything should always be error-free, of course, anything due for dispatch to the printer needs a full show of hands.  This isn’t just spelling and grammar, either - the fact that you’re managing an online project means you can’t do everything yourself.  Just because the sentence “Connect the third transistor stack assembly to the high voltage input” is grammatically correct doesn’t mean your engineer will agree its right.

Landfills are full of the thirty-thousand copies of a leaflet explaining why “Fisk & Sons Accountants” can be trusted not to make mistakes.  Even when you recycle the paper, you can’t recover the energy and the costs of creating so many unwanted items.

4.  Regular Maintenance

“Saving on servicing” is the single scariest and most shortsighted sentence in the entire budgeting arsenal.  It makes a mole in dark glasses look like an optician with a telescope.  When money is at its tightest is when you can least afford a breakdown, so don’t scrimp or save on servicing your computer equipment (or the online tools that let you keep track).  One hard drive failure can cost weeks of work, and that’s the kind of catastrophe that costs clients.

As project manager you know how terrifying the phrase “my computer crashed” is - don’t let it happen to you.  Save money in the long run by keeping your computer tools in top condition.  The better condition you keep your kit in, the less often you’ll have to expensively replace the lot, and the less utterly-unmanageable electronic trash will end up polluting the planet.  Even those few parts of your PC that can be recycled require hideously toxic technology to scrape out the few salvageable scraps, and you know that most will end up rotting and rusting in non-biodegradable stacks anyway.

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Read more about Green Businesses on WeHeartWorld.

Image: Creative Commons via OfficeNow.

Let’s say you have a team of 12 and your boss’ birthday is a few weeks away. You could all each stress over what to give individually, careful to play office politics deftly; or, you let eDivvy.com make the whole process easy. First, determine what gift to buy, and then invite those who will participate and then let eDivvy.com take care of the rest. No worrying about collecting the money and who will purchase and ship; eDivvy.com has you covered.

Normally, in the pre- group gifting days, everyone would buy individual gifts such as See’s candies, a coffee mug or a business cards holder. After some time, these gifts, however well intentioned, do not excite anymore. If you really want the boss to smile and feel like the team actually cares, consider pooling resources to buy something cool, like a Nintendo Wii GET Fit bundle. When bought alone, this item costs almost $700 (enough for the boss to consider giving you a pay cut), but when the cost is shared among 12 hard working employees, the individual amount is under 60 bucks.

Of course, I am assuming your boss actually deserves a gift. For those that don’t, here is an idea.

Do you have a great gift idea for your superstar boss? We would love to hear it. Share your story with us in the comment section.

Are you a boss? What has been the best gift you have received from your team? The worst?

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Read more at We Heart World.

Still, it wasn’t enough.  There are literally thousands of major issues that did not get the exposure they deserved.  While we have our own opinions of what issues need exposure more than others, that’s not the point of this post.  For 2009, any good green cause that can be brought to the attention of the people is our goal. We even have businesses such as Long Beach BMW helping the cause.

To get it started, we’ve accepted the assistance of FileDropper to incentivize the efforts.

For the next week, they will give away free lifetime memberships for 100GB of free file storage.  This blog will be one of the catalysts, but others are certain to get involved.  It’s simple.  Make a pledge.  That’s it!  Make a pledge to be more green in some way this year and FileDropper will give you the lifetime storage.

There are five ways to do it.  Select one of the green pledges below or write your own, then…

1. Tweet it, or
2. Post your pledge in your blog, or
3. Post your pledge on YouTube, (the best videos will be added to this story), or
4. Create a visual of your pledge and post it on Flickr, or
5. Make your pledge however you want (as long as we can see, read, hear, or verify it in some way)

Once you’ve done that, post the link to it in the comments.  Then, go to Pledge Green, Store Files for Free and claim your account.  No strings.  No catches.  No charges.  Just free.  Make sure you help spread the word by linking your pledges to this post!

Here are some sample pledges.  Feel free to make your own or copy and paste one of the ones below.  Remember, it only takes a little effort to make a difference in the world.

I pledge to refill my bottled water in 2009. What’s your green pledge: http://bit.ly/2M3bjE

I pledge to drive less in 2009.  What’s your green pledge: http://bit.ly/2M3bjE

I pledge to participate in environmental activism in 2009.  What’s your green pledge: http://bit.ly/2M3bjE

I pledge to learn more about the ecosystem in 2009.  What’s your green pledge: http://bit.ly/2M3bjE

I pledge to support local farmers and eat organic in 2009. What’s your green pledge: http://bit.ly/2M3bjE

I pledge to email the govenment about green issues in 2009. What’s your green pledge: http://bit.ly/2M3bjE

I pledge to promote sustainability at work in 2009.  What’s your green pledge: http://bit.ly/2M3bjE

I pledge to recycle more in 2009. What’s your green pledge: http://bit.ly/2M3bjE

I pledge to __________ in 2009. What’s your green pledge: http://bit.ly/2M3bjE

Keep in mind that this page will be locked down during peak traffic times to ensure that the server does not crash, so if your comment does not appear immediately, don’t worry.  Your pledge was registered and will appear as soon as possible.  Thank you so much, and think green!

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Read more about green activism in 2009 at WeHeartWorld.

Editor’s Note: This is a feature column by TL Daniel.

Recently the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) announced plans to kill tens of thousands of America’s wild horses.

The proposal “is killing pure and simple to balance the books for an agency whose reckless management has caused immeasurable harm to a national treasure at considerable cost to the American taxpayer,” said Chris Heyde, deputy director of government and legal affairs for the Animal Welfare Institute based in Washington, D.C.

BLM claims it can no longer afford to round up wild horses and confine them until it finds people to adopt them, and the agency wants to euthanize these majestic wild beauties or sell them to the highest bidder “without limitation” - meaning sell them to anyone, even if the bidder also plans to kill these horses. The BLM claims that the agency can’t “allow horses to multiply unchecked on the range without causing an environmental disaster.”

This has many people outraged. The fact that our own government recognizes these magnificent creatures as an important symbol of the American spirit, and that we need them, whether it be for labor or for presence, means that we must do all that we can to protect them.

The government issued a statement in 1971 stating: “Congress finds and declares that wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West; (and) that they contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people …”(Public Law 92-195, December 15, 1971). It isn’t surprising that once again, the government isn’t standing by the law they put in place for our wild horses.

Currently there is an online petition posted at care2 with almost 38k signatures. The goal is 50k, and it seems they may achieve their goal. However, petitioning isn’t enough. We must get the word out and make more people aware of what will take place if these animals are not adopted out. We can no longer trust the government to protect what they claimed was under their protection.

There is a land issue involving cattle ranchers and wild horses. More and more land is being bought for cows to graze, thereby giving wild horses diminishing land to roam on. So, who wins in this case? Is the government going to fight for the rights of the farmers to own whatever land they need for their cattle, or are they going to stand by a law, which they made, that allows wild horses to roam on open land freely? It seems like a no brainer to me. And because the land available to the wild horses is becoming more scarce, so will the population of this wonderful creature. We are the only ones that can save them. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame this problem solely on cattle ranchers, however, it is a growing problem and one example of the reason for their demise.

When visiting the BLM website on this issue, it appears that they are doing all they can to get these animals adopted. It has posted the next internet auction to be held in January 2009. This is good news for those who are not able to catch the auctions held in different states. The big issue, however, is WHO is actually buying these wild horses and what are their intentions? Some will say it doesn’t really matter, as long as they are taken off the lands and have a chance to live.

Others who are more aware of the potential fate of these animals say that it’s the perfect opportunity for those who want buy these horses for slaughter or for fighting, and they can buy many at a time, for a relatively cheap price with no questions asked.

Horses have never been slaughtered for human consumption in America, however, foreign-owned slaughter houses recently operated in Texas and Illinois, where some 100k horses a year were killed for foreign interests. Horses are consumed in parts of Europe and Asia, and while Americans won’t consume horse meat, we are okay with killing them for that reason.

If you ask the average American how they felt about it, they wouldn’t be aware of such practice that takes place right here in our own country. There is a reason why most Americans don’t know.

The failure of Congress to pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act into law means that horses are still being slaughtered for human consumption abroad, right here at home. Tens of thousands are shipped to Mexico and Canada annually, where they are killed under barbaric conditions so their meat can continue to satisfy the palates of overseas diners in countries such as Italy, France, Belgium and Japan.  Additionally, without the federal law, there remains the threat that horse slaughter plants may set up shop in states that have no laws against the practice.

In 2007, the slaughter of horses on US soil came to an end when a court ruling upheld a Texas law banning horse slaughter, and similar legislation was passed in Illinois. However, in the beginning of 2008, unsuccessful attempts were made to open a horse slaughterhouse in South Dakota and overturn the Illinois ban. It is likely that pro-horse slaughter organizations will try again elsewhere in the United States, including Texas and Illinois.

While a handful of horses are purposely sold into slaughter by irresponsible owners, most arrive at the slaughterhouse via livestock auction, where unsuspecting owners sell the animals to slaughterhouse middlemen known as “killer buyers.” Despite the fact that the US plants are no longer in operation, killer buyers continue to purchase and haul as many horses as possible from livestock auctions around the country to the slaughterhouses that have now relocated to Mexico and Canada.

The suffering begins long before our horses even reach the slaughterhouse. Conditions of transport are appalling, with horses regularly hauled to our domestic borders on journeys lasting more than 24 hours. Deprived of food, water or rest, the horses are forced onto double-decked cattle trailers with ceilings so low that they injure their heads. Not only are these double-deckers inhumane, but they are also dangerous and have been involved in a number of tragic accidents.

Although awareness has grown exponentially in recent years, the horse meat trade is still relatively hidden from most Americans, and the industry wants to keep it that way. Until the US Congress passes the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act into law, show horses, racehorses, foals born as “byproducts” of the Premarin© (a female hormone replacement drug) industry, wild horses, burros and family horses will all continue to fall prey to this detestable foreign-driven industry.

(Research Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)

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Read more about animal cruelty at We Heart World.

China gives Europe the political and economic backbone necessary for its ambitious green dreams.  More importantly, China will act as Europe’s “lab” for testing, allowing for acceleration of ambitious projects and expansion of its label as a green world leader.

It is through this joint initiative that a way has been paved for the development of efficient, low-carbon energy systems.  Researchers believe that international collaboration - and in particular an initiative called COoperation Action with CHina (COACH) - will speed up the development of polygeneration plants.

While generating electricity, these plants will also produce other coal-based fuels. One of the key points of this program is the incorporation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Global energy demand is increasing year over year.  Renewable energy is a the primary goal for the future, there is currently no renewable source that can adequately replace fossil fuels.

In China, which relies so heavily on coal, the need for cleaner power generation is urgent.

• In 2004, China accounted for more than 17 per cent of global CO2 emissions
• By 2007, China’s emissions had increased to 25%, equal to the US

COACH was developed to ‘prepare the ground’ for advanced clean coal technologies in China, with two key goals: decarbonising fossil fuels, especially through the capture and storage of CO2 and the polygeneration of coal-derived fuels.

Coal-based polygeneration systems, especially in the electric power sector, have to be adapted to specific infrastructures. In these systems, as well as producing electricity, coal-based power plants are also used to produce liquid and gaseous fuels. Steam and waste heat can also be captured and used for industrial and domestic energy services.

The different drivers and research priorities in China and Europe make cooperation mutually beneficial. For example, a major obstacle for the deployment of CCS technology is cost; these technologies are not yet commercially competitive. Europe already funds research in this area, and findings from these projects could usefully inform developments in China as well as Europe, especially research into the handling and storage of the captured CO2. The European Commission plans to support as many as 12 European CCS demonstration plants which should go on stream between 2012 and 2020.

Equally, China’s reliance on its abundant coal resources means that it has ploughed funding into establishing effective coal gasification systems. China has already established ambitious targets for its gasification technologies, but there has been ‘political lingering’ that has slowed the implementation of clean coal technologies.  International cooperation can often supercede these types of roadblocks.

By directing research into handling CO2 and making CCS commercially acceptable, Europe and China can support each other in the rapid development of more sustainable energy schemes.

The bigger picture: if two of the most powerful but distant political entities can work together to each other’s mutual benefit, this could be the catalyst and trend-setting example for future collaboration and cooperation between nations to find solutions to climate change and energy-specific issues.

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Read more Alternative Energy News at WeHeartWorld.

Mr Pöttering said:

“The World Financial Summit is a major opportunity, provided that it sends out the right signals for the required action. The key players must take action, as the financial crisis has shown that the market alone is not sufficient to create a sustainable and lasting financial system.

“Freedom needs regulation, and the market must always also be linked to social obligations. I expect the European representatives at this summit to act in accordance with the requirements of a sustainable social market economy.

“We now need clear rules, a regulatory framework for banks, and transparency and supervision of the banking system. This summit is also an acid test. The European currency and the European central banks have already played an important stabilising role in this crisis. The countries of the euro zone have found a way of taking joint action together with the United Kingdom. Europeans now have an opportunity to assume a leading role in an equal partnership between the European Union and the United States of America.”

Mr Pöttering also called on those attending the World Financial Summit not to forget, on account of the financial crisis, poor countries and the vital objective of combating climate change.

“If governments spend billions rescuing banks, it must not be the poorest countries in the world that suffer as a result. We must also continue with resolve all our efforts to combat climate change.”

(Source: European Parliament)

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Read more about environmental politics on We Heart World.

The PCC ‘07 is a unique portfolio of investments that derives its deal flow from the Investors’ Circle deal screening process. MR and ORPC join New Day Farms and Origin Biomed in the PCC ‘07 Fund. The four companies were among a select group of companies chosen to present at the Investors’ Circle Fall 2007 and Spring 2008 conferences. “These companies perfectly fit the PCC’s profile of investing in companies that not only have the potential of generating venture capital-type returns,” says Schuyler Lance, Managing Principal of the PCC, “but, more importantly, they are providing meaningful social and environmental benefit to the world.”

The new investment in Montana Renewables blends 40 years of carbo-chemical research by the company’s founder with the business acumen of the company’s professional CEO - creating a company that has the opportunity to be a meaningful revenue company while reducing the world’s dependency on petroleum-based chemicals.

Jere Kolstad, CEO of Montana Renewables, is “extremely pleased to have Patient Capital Collaborative (PCC) join the team at Montana Renewables as an investor. At Montana Renewables we are working on building a new chemical industry - the carbochemical industry. The petrochemical industry was incredibly important in the development of modern industry but the sun is setting on the feedstock for that business. We are at the dawn of a new chemical industry based on renewable sources, and Montana Renewables’ mission is to help build and enable it. Patient Capital Collaborative is the first sophisticated, professional investment group that I have encountered to bring that “institutional” approach to a start-up’s first round. PCC is literally changing the rules of early stage investment from my perspective. I think it is an incredibly important change.”

For Ocean Renewable Power Company, the additional investment will allow the company to complete the prototyping stage, positioning the company for the commercial generation of renewable power on a cost-competitive basis. Lance goes on to say, “ORPC is headed by an impressive team that has experience in both R&D/engineering and building power plants, and is applying this multi-faceted talent to underwater power generation. ”

“ORPC has made great progress in testing and proving the technical viability of its proprietary tidal turbine generator unit in Western Passage at the entrance to the Bay of Fundy in Maine,” says John Cooper, CFO of Ocean Renewable Power Company, “and we are delighted with PCC ‘07, LP’s additional commitment to our funding needs to move toward the commercialization of this technology.”

About Ocean Renewable Power Company:

ORPC was founded in 2004 for the purpose of generating emission-free electricity from tidal, river, and deep water ocean currents. For the last year, ORPC has been operating a 1/3-scale prototype of its proprietary ocean current generation (OCGenTM) unit off the northern coast of Maine. As both a technology developer and a project developer, ORPC plans to commercialize the core component of its OCGenTM technology, the turbine-generator unit (TGU), by the end of 2009 while concurrently developing tidal and river power generation projects at a variety of sites in New England, Florida and Alaska.

ORPC’s units are anchored between the ocean floor and the ocean surface, providing the benefits of minimal ocean habitat disturbance, no negative view shed issues, nor interference with shipping lanes. Moreover, the company believes its modular design is easier to maintain than other tidal systems under development today, resulting in projected costs per kilowatt hour in the attractive range of 6 to 8 cents. ORPC’s projects under development in Maine (Western Passage and Cobscook Bay) and Alaska (Cook Inlet) are expected to have total peak enerating capacities in the tens to hundreds of Megawatts (MW). The deep water ocean current sites ORPC is pursuing in the Florida Current (Gulf Stream) will support very large OCGenTM projects with generating capacities in the hundreds of MW. For more information: http://www.oceanrenewablepower.com/home.htm.

About Montana Renewables:

MR refines carbohydrate-rich grains into biodegradable chemicals, which are called carbochemicals.

MR is a spin-out from the chemistry department of the University of Montana, based upon the 40 years of work of Dr. Don Kiely. MR’s strategy is to supply the “building block” chemicals needed to enable the chemical industry to produce carbochemicals to replace petrochemicals. Petrochemicals represent use of about 7% of the world’s oil supply and are environmentally unfriendly as compared to carbochemicals that come from starch/sugars.

The company’s core competency and IP center around an efficient oxidation process for the low-cost manufacture of glucaric acid, one of the 12 carbochemical “building blocks” as identified by the Department of Energy. Glucaric acid is also used today as a dietary supplement believed to protect against certain cancers by promoting the elimination of estrogen and potentially harmful substances produced in the body.

The Company’s strategy is to first focus on selling glucaric acid and its anticorrosive byproduct in 2009, with other building block chemicals and selected polymers to be launched thereafter. For more information: http://montana-renewables.com.

About the Patient Capital Collaborative:

Sustainable Resource VenturesSM manages the Patient Capital Collaborative (PCC). PCC invests in companies that apply for financing through Investors’ Circle, an association of accredited investors who provide “Patient Capital for a Sustainable Future.” The PCC invests as the lead or participant in rounds of equity and equity-related securities as small as $500,000 and as large as $5,000,000.

Capital for PCC’s funds is provided by high net worth individuals, many of whom are successful business entrepreneurs and are leaders in the field of sustainability. For more information: http://www.SustainVC.com/Patient_Capital_Collaborative.html.

(Source: JustMeans)

Find more Environmental Press Releases at WeHeartWorld.

Parliament’s plenary will vote in December, just before the festive season. The report on the safety of toys, drafted by Marianne Thyssen (EPP-ED, BE), was adopted on Tuesday 6 November by the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection.  The aim of the new draft directive is to strengthen and update the rules on toy safety.  The existing directive has given good service but needs replacing.

New types of toy have appeared on the market, with new materials and technologies being used for their manufacture. In addition, cases of toxic or dangerous toys being placed on the market, such as Mattel in 2007, have shown the need for tighter safety rules.  Lastly, new horizontal rules, such as those on the ‘goods package’, are about to enter into force and the toys directive needed to be brought into line with these.

MEPs gave their backing to the Commission’s draft legislation but adopted amendments tightening restrictions on the use of chemicals and perfumes, clarifying the rules on warnings and totally banning the use of heavy metals in toy manufacture.

This is not a toy

A toy is defined under the directive as a product intended to be used for playing by children under 14 years of age. A list of products not regarded as toys is annexed to the text.  It includes party decorations, collectors’ items clearly intended for people aged fourteen or over (including reproductions of real firearms or faithful scale models), puzzles with more than 500 pieces, fireworks and new products such as video games and game consoles.

MEPs expanded this list to include children’s books made only of cardboard and/or paper which do not contain any added elements such as plastic toys or sound features.

Safety first

Manufacturers will have to ensure that toys are not harmful or toxic to children’s health.  MEPs want Member States to apply the precautionary principle when enacting the legislation, especially if scientific evidence cannot determine whether a toy poses a risk.

Any toy placed on the EU market must meet general safety standards. An EP amendment adds that ‘the absence of an accident history may not automatically be taken as indicating a low presumption of risk’. MEPs backed a clause proposed by the Commission which requires manufacturers and importers to keep the technical documentation and the EC declaration of conformity for a period of 10 years after the toy has been placed on the market.

‘Not suitable for under-threes’

MEPS also clarified and strengthened the rules regarding warnings on packaging and on toys themselves: to make them more visible, they must be preceded by the word ‘Warning’.

Toys for children under 36 months must meet higher safety standards. Some toys bearing the warning ‘Not suitable for children under three years’ are clearly intended for such children (e.g. rattles). If a toy is obviously intended for the under-threes, it will no longer be possible to use this misleading claim.

Allergenic fragrances

The Commission proposal bans the use of some allergenic fragrances.  MEPs did not back a total ban but reached a compromise expanding considerably the list of banned substances, traces of which must not exceed a certain limit.  This will affect toys such as play dough and dolls.  A limited number of substances listed will be allowed in educational toys designed to develop the senses, such as ‘olfactory, gustative and cosmetic games’.

The Internal Market Committee also tightened up the restrictions on substances that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction (CMR), saying these should be almost completely banned.  The conditions for exemption were clarified and made stricter.  The committee also banned the use of heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium (VI), lead, mercury and organic tin in the manufacture of toys.

Do not swallow

Other amendments toughened up the clauses seeking to reduce the risk of suffocation or strangling by small detachable parts or toys contained in food such as chocolate eggs.

Legal update

The broad legal framework governing the sale of goods in the EU has recently been updated. The toy safety directive is the first to reflect the requirements of the new framework.

The old directive ‘is not sufficient to deal with the risks from imported toys, since 95% of toys in Britain and 80% in the EU as whole are imported from China’, said Arlene McCarthy (PES, UK), chair of the Internal Market Committee. The new legislation will require Member States to carry out stricter checks under Directive 2001/95/EC on general product safety.

Next steps

The committee’s draft report will be put to the vote at Parliament’s plenary in Strasbourg in December. According to the rapporteur, negotiations with the Council and Commission will start soon with the aim of reaching a first-reading agreement, so that ‘toys can be made safe as quickly as possible’.

(Source: Environment DG)

Read more stories on this green blog.