In 2001, SC Johnson developed the Greenlist™ process to classify ingredients considered for use in our products by their impact on the environment and human health. Today, SC Johnson scientists have a computerized, global system that helps them select the best available ingredients and continually improve our products. Our now-patented Greenlist™ process includes ratings for more than 95% of the ingredients we use. It has been scientifically reviewed by numerous organizations, and we continue to add to and improve the process. Our goal with the Greenlist™ process is that beyond meeting legal and regulatory requirements for our products, we also increase year-on-year the percentage of our ingredients that has the least impact on the environment and human health. We started at 18% “Better”/“Best” ingredients in 2001; today we are at 44%.
As a result, using Greenlist™ we have been able to continuously improve our products. For example, by reformulating Windex® brand glass cleaner, we cut 1.8 million pounds of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from it while giving it 30% more cleaning power. We’re also committed to sharing the Greenlist™ process because we believe other organizations could benefit from it, too. That’s why we have partnered with Five Winds International as our third-party administrator to license the Greenlist™ process to other.