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Green Purchasing

Has your company made a commitment to buying green products and services? Maybe you would like them to be more involved.

Sony have a well-established Green Partner Program. Under this program, Sony auditors visit suppliers to check environmental management activities. If suppliers meet Sony's standards, they qualify as Green Partners.

Environmental & Purchasing Policy

Senior management should have an Environmental Policy laying out how much (%) reduction is being targeted by when. Specific targets have to be communicated to all employees, with the responsible manager for each item identified. Such as:

1. WATER CONSERVATION: 15% reduction in group water use by 2010 (production director)

Then your Purchasing Policy forms an integral part of the Environmental Policy. Firstly, get the ball rolling with raising awareness:

• Check if your suppliers have environmental management systems and green procurement policies of their own. Look for certification standards such as ISO 14001 or eco-labelling.
• Show a preference for companies that demonstrate their environmental responsibility.
• Talk to your suppliers about providing recycled products. Demand can lead to reduced prices, innovative ideas for new products and materials, and a more accessible supply of products.
• If buying products that are recyclable, for example printer cartridges, check whether there is a recycling facility available that can collect from you, or that you can post them back. Investigate local charities or schools that might be interested in collecting items with value to raise some money.

This model purchasing policy is a template for your use. You may modify and print on your letterhead. Naturally sections on manufacturing actions will not be applicable for service industries, so simply fine tune the template for your purpose and set target figures as agreed by your Board of Directors.

The following measures can help you get tangible results for your company in terms of reducing carbon footprint, improving public image, making a more sustainable business and reducing costs.

Paying Bills On-line

Eliminating your paper trail by banking and paying bills online does more than save trees. It also helps reduce fuel consumption by the trucks and planes that transport paper checks. If every U.S. home viewed and paid its bills online, the switch would cut solid waste by 1.6 billion tons a year and curb greenhouse-gas emissions by 2.1 million tons a year, according to Javelin Strategy & Research.

Worried about security? Don't be. Just ignore e-mails pushing for personal data, and monitor all (electronic) statements for any unauthorized debits. Report problems immediately, and your credit won't take the hit. To avoid unnecessary carbon dioxide-emitting car trips to the bank on payday, ensure your employer makes direct transfers of payrolls and supplier payments.

Use Greener Transport

Overhaul your company logistics, car rentals and transporters. Go out to tender again letting potential suppliers know that you will select based on the most eco-friendly solution. What engines are in their trucks? How well are they maintained? How far from your locations are they?

Use Greener Stationery

Again, let potential suppliers know that you will select based on the most eco-friendly solution. Buy recycled paper stationery (printed and paper reams).

Americans recycled 42 million tons of paper last year —50% of what they used— but still pulverized the rest. Paper does grow on trees: 900 million of them every year become pulp and paper.

We can reduce that number by buying more recycled paper. It uses 60% less energy than virgin paper. Each ton purchased saves 4,000 kW-h of energy, 7,000 gal. of water and 17 trees, and a tree has the capacity to filter up to 60 lbs of pollutants from the air.

Some paper manufacturers boast that their paper comes from farmed trees: this is not recycled paper and trees are still being chopped down so that you can print that report. Farmed tree paper can be used for copiers though.

Increase in-house processing

Even better than just reducing transportation, why don’t you stop some trips altogether? Review some out-sourcing, check what added-value it provides and review setting up that process in-house. You will not only reduce your product’s carbon footprint, but should reduce lead time, documentation and invoicing overheads.

Green Packaging

Use Greener Packaging

Overhaul the product packaging at your company. Get your buyer to go out to tender again letting potential suppliers know that you will select based on the most eco-friendly solution.

Avoid Heavy Packaging

Buy bulk packs and products with lighter packaging that its competitors (as long it is local). Avoid plastic packaging if possible.

Reducing Reliance on Plastic

Paper or plastic? How about neither? All those Styrofoam containers and plastic bottles/cases cost energy to manufacture and deliver, and that means carbon. With a little prudent redesign or use of new materials, your company's packaging could similarly be trimmed or improved.

The plastic bags you bring home from the supermarket probably end up in a landfill. Every year, more than 500 billion plastic bags are distributed, and less than 3% of those bags are recycled. They are typically made of polyethylene and can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade in landfills that emit harmful greenhouse gases.

Although PVC and polyethylene products are not good for the environment, not all plastics are in fact bad. Bio-plastics are a new generation of bio-degradable compostable plastics. Visit our Bio-polymers section for more.

Corporations are also beginning to pitch in:

• Hewlett-Packard announced in February 2007 that it would switch to lighter packaging for its printer cartridges, which will reduce carbon emissions by an amount equivalent to removing 3,500 cars from the road for a year.
• Megaretailer Wal-Mart (Asda), far out front in this effort, has trimmed everything from its rotisserie-chicken boxes to its water bottles, each now made with 5 g less plastic. The company plans to cut packaging 5% starting in 2008—enough to prevent 667,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
• Starbucks are improving their takeaway packaging and encouraging bring-your-own cups.
• Tescos have pioneered use of reusable plastic crates - green trays as well as implemented a far-reaching environmental strategy.
• See more responsible retailers.

Say No to Toxic Materials & Waste!

Use of certain chemicals can have a debilitating affect on the environment, and what's more can result in bad PR or even fines for improper disposal or effluent. Do a review of all chemicals to see what environmentally-friendly alternatives there are. This may come about from a new supplier or from putting pressure on your existing supplier to re-invent the product into a green one.

Visit StopWaste for a resource guide for environmentally preferable products.

Want to locate local suppliers of environmental products, technologies and services? Try Egeneration Suppliers’ Directory.

Buying in London? Visit the London Remade site's procurement section for ideas and contacts.

On-Line Buying

For on-line UK green technology, click here.

For UK shopping on-line with Green Directory, click here.

For the USA Co-operative for screened green businesses & products, click here, or try their Responsible Shopper section with in-depth social/ environmental profiles on hundreds of companies where you can compare and investigate industries/companies.

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