Target Steps Up Thanks to Eco Conscious Consumer Demand

Big News from Target!  Taking the lead and showing their customers just how serious they are taking chemical reform  - at least inside their stores- the company announced a new chemical strategy that will affect every single product they sell and setting realistic timeline (most changes by 2020). 

Their first step will be prioritizing the areas guests tell them are most important to them—such as products that go on, in and around their body. 

Specifically, they vowed to: 

1.  Requiring manufacturers to reformulate all beauty, baby care, personal care and cleaning products without phthalates, formaldehyde and certain parabens

2. Eliminating added PFC and flame retardants from all textiles sold in their stores.

3.  Requiring all manufacturers to disclose all ingredients in beauty, baby care, personal care and household cleaning products. This includes getting manufacturers to tell customers what’s in the “fragrance” in their products. This is pretty huge since the word 'fragrance' can include dozens even hundred of chemicals that no one knows.  They set a date of 2020

4. Target will also invest up to $5 million in innovative green chemistry research.

One of the most important things to note is that Target has said that these new rules come amid growing consumer demand for green goods --  organic food, natural cosmetics, cleaning products etc.  So keep on demanding  cleaner, healthier, less toxic products for your families!   Even if our politicians aren't taking chemical reform seriously, major retailers are paying attention and forcing manufacturers to make changes!