Grant Recipients for Green Chemistry & Safer Alternatives Innovation

Target is committed to supporting innovation in green chemistry through our philanthropic resources. These grant recipients are driving systems change to advance green chemistry in any of the following key areas: Awareness, Transparency, Chemical Assessment and Safer Alternatives. 

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Advancing Green Chemistry

Program Name: Green Chemistry Science Communication Fellows Program 

Description: The Green Chemistry Science Communication Fellows Program trains emerging science leaders to effectively engage with media and the public about rapidly evolving research at the intersection of environmental health and green chemistry. Fellows leave the program equipped to build strategic collaborations with other researchers, attract vital research funding, provide validity to the need for safer materials, and influence companies and decision makers to adopt the best science for a greener future.
Learn more about the program 

Beyond Benign Inc.

Program Name: Toxicology for Chemists: Designing Safer Alternatives 

Description: The Toxicology for Chemists: Designing Safer Alternatives program supports current and future scientists to better understand molecular hazards and the intentional design of chemical products with reduced hazards through creation of an open-source curriculum (OSC).
Learn more about Beyond Benign

Green Chemistry & Commerce Council (GC3)

Program Name: Amplifying the Impact of the GC3 in Commercializing Green Chemistry

Description: The 125-member GC3 brings together the entire value chain — from start-ups and chemical producers, to product manufacturers, brands and retailers — to accelerate the commercialization of green chemistry solutions. This investment will leverage over a decade of successful collaborative GC3 programs to significantly grow the impact of the GC3 across global supply chains. Among the areas of focus for this work are development of a three- to- five-year strategic plan, transformation of the organization and its structure, and strengthening the brand and financial model.
Learn more about GC3

Green Science Policy Institute

Program Name: Highly Fluorinated Chemicals (PFAS) in Food Packaging 

Description: This project investigates the prevalence of PFAS in grocery store food packaging. This class of potentially toxic chemicals is known to be used in packaging, but the specifics need further research. We will also estimate the contribution of food packaging to PFAS emissions from landfills. Findings will be documented in peer-reviewed papers followed by webinars and workshops to educate manufacturers and retailers, with the goal of identifying and encouraging the adoption of green chemistry alternatives to PFAS for grocery packaging.
Learn more about the Green Science Policy Institute

Healthy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF)

Program Name: Solutions for Brighter Futures 

Description: Healthy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF) is implementing our Solutions for Brighter Futures project to reduce babies' exposure to toxic chemicals during the most vulnerable periods of development: in utero, and from birth to age 2. Through HBBF's Bright Cities program, funds are used both to directly recruit cities and then work with them to identify and implement the potentially most significant safer alternatives programs, and also to increase consumer awareness of the problem and the greener chemistry solutions being used to lower the levels of neurotoxic chemicals in babies.
Learn more about Healthy Babies Bright Futures

ChemFORWARD (formerly MaterialWise)

Program Name: Safer Alternatives 

Description: ChemFORWARD (formerly MaterialWise) is a chemical management initiative focused on increasing access to high-quality chemical hazard alternative assessments. With cost-effective, verified and actionable information on a cloud-based platform, ChemFORWARD removes barriers to informed decision-making for brands and manufacturers, helping them to avoid regrettable substitutions. With a focus on high-priority chemistry, we aggregate demand and employ precompetitive cost-sharing to catalyze better chemistry throughout supply chains. We provide a support service and evidence base to other NGOs and industry initiatives seeking to move rapidly toward better chemistry.
Learn more about MaterialWise

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine

Program Name: Environmental Health Matters Initiative 

Description: Convened by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, the Environmental Health Matters Initiative will provide a new forum in which the environmental health community can interact with relevant sectors and disciplines to examine available information and discuss innovative solutions to the nation's most significant environmental health challenges. With the goal to protect human health, participants will work to identify opportunities where progress can be made, explore the complexity of the challenges, enable the development of holistic and sustainable solutions, and provide rapid expert input when crises demand.
Learn more about the Environmental Health Matters Initiative

Queens College, CUNY

Program Name: The Safe and Just Cleaners Study

Description: The Safe and Just Cleaners Study, a five-year initiative funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, is addressing a gap in knowledge by collecting data from Latinx domestic cleaners to assess current knowledge, awareness, work practices and levels of air and skin exposures to potentially toxic compounds contained in common household cleaning products, with the goal of changing consumer preferences towards safer cleaning products.
Learn more about the Safe and Just Cleaners Project

The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) and Forum for the Future

Program Name: Shared Vision for Green Chemistry 

Description: The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) and Forum for the Future leverages their combined expertise in science-based metrics, multi-stakeholder facilitation and industry-wide membership engagement to create a shared vision and agenda for green chemistry innovation. This vision acts as a common reference point for diverse stakeholders, helps to identify solutions to overcome key barriers unique to different supply chains, and provides context for current green chemistry initiatives to enhance transparency and awareness in the market. The ultimate objective of this work is to enable consumer product supply chains to work transparently and in synergy toward the common goal of meaningful, systemic solutions for safe, sustainable chemistry.
Learn more about The Sustainability Consortium (TSC)
Learn more about Forum for the Future