Greening Procurement
University purchasing of supplies and materials affects the health of the planet, the local economy and of course budgets! Sustainable purchasing practices ask buyers to evaluate more than just the bottom line cost of a widget but to instead consider how purchases impact people and society, the environment and economy or the fiscal bottom line. For example purchasing classroom or office furnishings that can be disassembled and recycled, purchasing locally grown or produced food, or purchasing from a locally, female or minority owned company are all pieces of the green procurement movement.
Ways the University has greened purchasing include:
- Bon Appetit's commitment to have at least 20% of their annual purchase dollars be from within a 150 mile radius
- Highlighting office supply green and certified office products
- Encouraging purchases to select paper with a high percentage of recycled content
- Contracting with a waste hauler that utilizes compressed natural gas to fuel their garbage trucks
- Tracking local, female and minority owned purchases
- Purchasing Energy Star appliances
- Purchasing green building construction products that are manufactured within a few hundred miles
- Purchasing wood products that are Forestry Stewardship Council certified
- Purchasing green cleaning products that are Green Seal Certified