When you’ve been browsing the Little Partners, you’ve probably noticed that every single one of our products has a Greenguard Gold certification line in the description. But what does it mean?
Well, it’s got “green”....
Nice.
“Gold”...
Excellent.
And it guards against something so it must be good, right?
Yes! It is. Simply put, Greenguard Gold certification is a rigorous set of manufacturing standards that are designed to reduce air pollution and toxic chemical exposure. They are issued by UL Solutions as part of their overall mission to create safe and secure living and working environments, and certification is an important step in any company’s journey toward a more ethical and sustainable future.
Oh, and it’s not just good. It’s the best.
Greenguard Gold Certification Standards
Greenguard Gold certification was created because most of the toxic chemicals we ingest come from the air we breathe. At any given time, there are potentially thousands of these volatile organic compounds (VOCs) floating around. Things like gasoline vapors and benzene fumes are bad enough for the outside environment, but when they find their way indoors, they become concentrated and are therefore much more dangerous.
You’d be amazed at how many VOCs show up into the production of the things we use every day, and the Greenguard Gold certification program is rooting them out and keeping your family breathing easy. Their protocol screens for over 360 VOCs, and requires the product to meet the environmental standards of the California Department of Public Health. In total, this means products that are Greenguard Gold certified free of over 10,000 harmful emissions and VOCs in every stage of manufacturing.
It’s pretty amazing, and it means a healthier and cleaner environment for this generation and the next.
Little Partners: Building Sustainable Futures
Constructing electronics and developing cleaning solutions are laudable environmental focal points, but when you’re designing products that are for our most valuable and perfect resource—our children—it’s not enough to think one-dimensionally about sustainable and eco-friendly processes.
At Little Partners, we consider it a moral imperative—as well as an environmental one—to design our products for toddlers with a holistic approach to a sustainable future.
Without a doubt, Greenguard Gold certification is a crucial piece of the puzzle, and Little Partners has gone above and beyond these standards to include sustainable, social, tactile, and educational concerns.
Little Partners Learning Tower
Let’s take a look at our flagship creation, the Learning Tower. It’s an adjustable structure that allows your little one to safely access higher spaces, such as countertops and tables where adults spend a lot of time.
Making cookies? Why not bring your toddler into that workspace? What was once a mundane and functional adult-height space can become a sensory and developmental playscape to share with a Learning Tower!
And like a Swiss watch, there’s a lot more going on behind the dial with one of our products.
Greenguard Gold Certification
You know it. Every single one of our products either passes the Greenguard Gold certification standards, or we don’t build it.
All-wood Construction
Why wood? There’s a lot of reasons, but the first is long-term sustainability combined with exceptional durability. We use only Birch and Poplar that are EPA TSCA Title VI and FSC (Forest Stewardship Counsel) compliant. Again, it sounds good, but it’s worth drilling down on the details here.
When we talk about composite woods, the biggest concern is truly frightening:
Yes. The same carcinogen used to preserve buckets of frogs in middle school science classes.
We’ve thought about this for your toddler because, honestly, why would anybody look at a piece of plywood—much less a finished product intended for a child—and think “gee, I wonder if that’s full of embalming fluid?”
It turns out that formaldehyde is a common ingredient in fiberboards, plywoods, and glues that are used in all kinds of products for families. Think about the last time you put together a set of shelves from IKEA, and you’ll realize how much of this stuff is around.
Little Partners only uses woods that are certified by state, national, and independent standardization agencies like the Greenguard Gold certification program to ensure that all of our products—including our Learning Towers—keep levels of these terrible toxins at a minimum for your toddler.
Free of Harmful Paints and Finishes
All of our Learning Towers are finished to ensure they can stand up to the beating our exploratory buddy subjects them to. We insist on using child-safe, non-toxic paints and materials, and all our products are safety tested to ASTM F963-17 and 16 CFY Part 1307 for lead, heavy metals, and phthalates.
Safety First
All of these standards are in place because we don’t believe in unforced errors when it comes to the health and wellbeing of a child. But we need to be sure that when your child is using one of our Learning Towers, it creates a safe and responsible environment for play and exploration.
That means even more rigorous safety testing. All our products meet ASTM(F96-30) and Home Playground Equipment (F11-48-98C) safety standards.
Little Partners: a Lifetime Warranty
The last line in the description you see for our products is our lifetime warranty, and now you know we’re not just talking about your wallet. Our priorities are the lifetime of our products, the health of your family, and the quality of the world we live in and share with one another.
Greenguard Gold certification, along with our additional standards and certifications, is an indispensable part of crafting products for our families. We know that you and your little one will have an enriching and fulfilling experience growing and developing together with Little Partners, and you can have the confidence that every time you use them you are part of a cleaner, greener, more sustainable future.