If a nutritionist says, “You are what you eat,” then for a business, there’s some truth in recognizing that you are what you buy. That is, you’re not going to reduce your energy use if you keep buying inefficient computers and equipment. Or reduce waste if you don’t get your suppliers to stop using those Styrofoam peanuts.
Sustainable purchasing is a field that’s been growing – sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly – for years. Now, like many sustainability practices, it’s reaching a level where definitions and templates are gelling, best practices are established and peer learning is available. In other words, if you haven’t started greening your supply chain yet, it’s a great time to start.
Your supply chain, it turns out, is also a great place to underpin sustainability efforts for your organization as a whole, said Tim Reeve. Reeve Consulting specializes in ethical and sustainable purchasing, helping clients such as VANOC, private businesses and local governments with decisions about what to buy.
Benefits of sustainable purchasing
“Whether it’s carbon neutral, zero w aste, local economic development, health and safety: pick your sustainability priority of choice and trace it back and it seems procurement and supply chain have got a role in really helping you move along the curve,” said Reeve.
“Even engaging more with employees is affected. For example, as an employer starts to make a commitment to have recycled paper and energy-efficient laptops, and maybe electric vehicles, employees see that the company is committed to its green vision.
It’s anecdotal, but it appears they’re then more apt to join the recycling program or the car-pooling program or the water-conservation program. There are these leveraging efffects that sustainable supply chains and sustainable purchasing are having for organizations.”
Reeve has just concluded a report for the Municipal Collaboration for Sustainable Purchasing, a network of 13 municipalities from Saanich to Halifax working together to learn about and develop their purchasing practices. It outlines the benefits of sustainable purchasing – most of which are relevant for business as well as local government:
•reduce costs by selecting products that are more durable, have less waste or consume less energy;
•build credibility for your green brand;
•mitigate legal and brand risk (you want policies in place so you find out early whether that toy manufacturer is using lead paint or child labour);
•support goals related to zero waste, climate-change mitigation, buying local, etc.; and
•enhance staff engagement.
Emerging Trends
The report also identifies emerging trends in sustainable purchasing, as follows:
•Growing partnerships between finance and sustain-ability
Given that sustainability programs tend to offer operational efficiencies and cost reductions (after an initial investment in process), finance departments are increasingly seeing the opportunities. Sustainable procurement is where finance and sustainability often meet.
•Client departments are seeing the alignment
As various efforts to green operations or improve ethical and environmental offerings to customers build across an organization, departments find their work is made easier when they’re supported by a sustainable-purchasing program. If you’re wooing customers with a green product, it’s good to know the coffee you’re serving at that meeting is fair trade and your suppliers are helping you reduce your carbon footprint.
•Suppliers are innovating
“Suppliers are definitely reading the sustainability tea leaves,” said Reeve’s report. An example is Grand and Toy’s pilot “boomerang box” – a cardboard delivery box for the company’s office supplies that is designed to be taken back and reused six to 10 times before recycling.
Support from its client, BMO Financial Group, allowed Grand and Toy the opportunity to test and develop the boomerang box idea. Your sustainability purchasing policy might similarly motivate and support your suppliers to change.
•Continued focus on environment
While sustainable purchasing can encompass social issues, such as sweatshop labour or local economic development, policies still tend to focus heavily on environmental issues such as recycled content, energy efficiency and carbon footprint. Reeve said this is shifting over time to a more balanced triple-bottom-line approach.
“One of most exciting trends is that sustainable supply chains are now being seen as core strategy to businesses that are committed to sustainability,” said Reeve.
“People aren’t buying green products because they want to have greener products. They’re really doing it for more strategic reasons related to reducing costs through eco-efficiency, reducing risk in the supply chain by identifying labour or material issues ahead of time, and so on. If it’s not the first place you’re focusing your sustainability efforts, it ought to be up there on the list, because it has this catalyzing or facilitating effect.”
So how do you get started (or improve on what you’re already doing)? Check out workshops offered by the BuySmart Network (buysmartbc.com), a program of the Fraser Basin Council. They also have a resource centre with case studies, toolkits, calculators and more. •
