Sarah O’Brien was a member of the stakeholder Development Team which created the original EPEAT criteria and system, participating in the process as an expert on environmentally sustainable purchasing. She now works with private and public purchasers, manufacturers, resellers and retailers who use EPEAT (the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) to reduce electronic products’ environmental impact.

Ms. O’Brien came to the Green Electronics Council from a position as Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program Manager for Hospitals for a Healthy Environment, a nonprofit healthcare environmental assistance provider supported by US EPA, the American Hospital Association, international nonprofit Health Care Without Harm and the American Nurses Association. In that role Ms. O’Brien assisted health care organizations across North America – including large health systems and healthcare Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) -- to improve their environmental performance through development of widely used model specifications for environmentally preferable products and services, identification of alternative solutions, education of end users, contract review and revision, and other purchasing initiatives.

Earlier, as a Senior Outreach Associate with the US national nonprofit INFORM, Ms O’Brien assisted state, local and federal government agencies, education and enterprise purchasers in the US to reduce their purchase of products containing persistent toxic chemicals through policy and contract development and supplier education. Her activities included development of contract specifications, writing product and service-specific guidance documents and training purchasers in innovative approaches to procurement of environmentally preferable products.

As an environmental health advocate for the National Wildlife Federation and Vermont Public Interest Research Group, Ms O’Brien was involved in legislative advocacy and public education efforts around toxics issues throughout the Northeast United States, with a specific focus on mercury reduction measures. She was a lead advocate for pioneering legislation which regulated sale of mercury containing products in Vermont in 1998 – the world’s most stringent protocol for mercury disclosure and reduction at that time.  She also developed legislation in 2000 creating a highly successful program restricting use of toxic substances in Vermont schools, and a program devoting Vermont pesticide sales tax revenues to training on and promotion of integrated pest management in the agricultural community.

Ms O’Brien is an honors graduate of Yale University, with a MA in anthropology from Temple University. She is a former Board member of the US National Pollution Prevention Roundtable and member of the review board for the Vermont Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Pollution Prevention.