Buy Clean is an EPA initiative to partner with schools and others to promote the purchase of products and services for a healthy indoor environment for schools.

The Buy Clean pilot program began as part of a federal effort to address childhood asthma.  Studies have shown that one-half of our nation's 115,000 schools have problems linked to indoor air quality.  Students are at greater risk because of the number of hours spent in school facilities and because children are especially susceptible to pollutants.  

Failure to respond promptly and effectively to poor indoor air quality may lead to:

• An increase in short- and long-term health problems;

• A greater risk that the schoolrooms or buildings will have to be closed and students/staff temporarily relocated; and

• Potential liability problems for schools.

This site is designed for those who buy or use products in schools, but has lots of information on other school and non-school related environmental issues. It provides information on the Buy Clean program as well as links to other related programs, web sites and tools that can be used creating a healthy indoor environment for children in schools. For example, if you are a chemistry or science teacher, check out the many web sites on green chemistry under "Related Programs" - Green Chemistry and "EPP Resources" - Chemistry. These sites can help you design experiments that are educational as well as having lower environmental impact. For procurement folks there are many sources of how others have developed procurement language for green products, look under EPP for many general and specific examples.

Additionally, EPA, has developed "The Healthy School Environments" web page which serves as a portal to on-line resources to help facility managers, school administrators, architects, design engineers, school nurses, parents, teachers and staff address environmental health issues in schools. While the information is primarily intended to help improve the environment of school facilities, educational resources for students and teachers can also be found through the Healthy School Environments portal. The resources identified have been developed by EPA, other Federal agencies, States, local governments and non-governmental organizations. Visitors can browse resources by topic or by geographic area, or search all resources by entering specific keywords into the search box at the top of each page. Visit http://epa.gov/schools/ for more information.

top of page