OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Level certification system for furniture has been launched, identifying products that meet the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer's Association E3 sustainability standard. The three levels of certification take into account materials, lifecycle, ecosystem impacts, energy, social responsibility and more.

ZEELAND, Mich. -- The furniture maker was given the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries' 2009 Design for Recycling award for its years of work on using more recyclable materials, eliminating certain materials and creating Cradle-to-Cradle products.

By rethinking the way the company packaged its lipsticks, Aveda president Dominique Conseil says the company started a paradigm shift in the cosmetics industry.

There’s encouraging news from Aveda, the hair care and beauty company that has just achieved what’s known as a cradle-to-cradle endorsement.

BLAINE, Minn. -- Beauty product company Aveda has earned Cradle-to-Cradle certification not only for seven of its products, but it's also earned the designation of a Cradle-to-Cradle company for its operations-wide efforts on energy, materials, recycling and environment.

DALTON, Ga. -- Shaw Industries, which already boasts an expansive line of Cradle-to-Cradle certified products has recently received certification for its EcoMade bath and scatter rugs.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Twenty of Method's body cleaning products have earned Cradle to Cradle certification, an achievement that will puts more Cradle to Cradle products in the consumer marketplace.

JACKSONVILLE, Ore. -- The RainTube, a Cradle to Cradle gutter system, received six of the seven 2008 Benchmarking Sustainability Awards from Green Building Pages, which assesses products on numerous criteria.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- After three years of re-engineering, Herman Miller's 15-year-old Aeron chair has earned Cradle to Cradle certification.

Along with the growth of concern about toxics in everyday products has come a growing number of solutions, a small but promising toolkit of chemical alternatives and design strategies aimed at wringing out the most toxic ingredients -- and, at the same time, improving some products' performance characteristics.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- MBDC, which administers Cradle to Cradle (C2C) certification for products, has developed a C2C certification for individual materials and ingredients in products.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The California Environmental Protection Agency has outlined six actions to integrate green chemistry into the state, reduce toxins in products and make chemical information accessible.

Not only does it matter what kinds of materials go into products, it matters what can be done with products when their lives are over. From cars to carpets to cameras, businesses are incorporating end-of-life issues to make more sustainable designs.