can incrementally move mainstream industry along the path of clean production. There are a number of fronts where important progress is being madein science and technology, in local economic development, in toxics use reduction and pollution prevention, and in community and workplace health and safety. One kind of initiative that combines elements of all these fronts is toxics use reduction. The best known organization is the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI), based at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, and funded mainly by the state government and matching grants. Although partly driven by the states progressive toxics use reduction legislation, the Institute is more focused on cooperation than on regulation. It acts as a consultant to industry managers for positive action in the design of products and production processes. Begun in the early nineties, by 1998 the use of some 190 toxic chemicals in Massachusetts industry had been reduced by 33 percent and the generation of toxic by-products had been cut nearly in half. An independent evaluation revealed that the state had saved money by this reduction, as totals costs amounted to $77 million and monetized benefits totalled $91 million (Geiser, 2001, 2002). Unlike mainstream environmental initiatives, the Institute focuses on chemical use rather than chemical release. It uses five main techniques: 1. material substitution in the product: this includes use of water-based, rather than oil-based, paints; and zinc-plated rather than cadmium-plated products. 2. material substitution in the process: examples are replacing chlorinated solvents with aqueous cleaning systems; and replacing organic painting stripping with mechanical blasting.