By keeping sustainability in mind when setting out to purchase a product or service, co-operatives can make decisions that reflect their commitment to overarching environmental sustainability goals such as reducing waste, supporting and empowering other co-ops, and committing to life-cycle assessments.
Considerations
Ensure your appliances use zero hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) -based refrigerants.
Purchase appliances that operate without batteries. Even though there are take-back programs for batteries to keep them out of landfills, they are resource intensive and hazardous to dispose of. Many batteries end up in landfills anyway and leach heavy toxins into the surrounding environment.
Design simple systems to keep track of types and quantities of materials, fittings and resources used, as well as operating practices. Compare these records to the goals you set for waste diversion, energy use, water use, air quality, etc. Manage your operations to meet your goals.
Promote your victories when you have achieved or exceeded your goals. Tell those that are visiting and using your space about what you have done to make it an environmentally responsible and healthy space.
A purchasing policy provides clear direction to a co-op on strategies, priorities and implementation standards for purchasing decisions, and has far-ranging impacts on communities, ecosystems, and economies. Seeking to purchase from other co-ops as often as possible reinforces the international principles of co-operation among co-operatives, and autonomy and independence.
Environmentally Sustainable Purchasing Policy
The following question can guide your purchasing decisions and can be integrated into an environmentally sustainable purchasing policy.
Can we do without it?
Can we borrow it, rent it, or get it used?
Is it designed to be durable or multi-functional?
Can it be made/is it available in less toxic forms, less wasteful forms, less energy intensive forms?
Does it use renewable resources?
Is it energy and water efficient?
Is it locally produced?
Can it be recycled, repaired, or refilled? Does it contain recycled content?
Is it available from a socially and environmentally responsible company?
Is it made using environmentally sustainable resources and energy?
In order to ensure that an organization has the skills and understanding to implement environmental purchasing policies, training should be provided for all staff involved in making environmental purchasing decisions.
A policy would allow a systematic approach to purchasing and should involve the following elements.
An explicit statement of commitment to environmentally sustainable purchasing from top management: In order for employees to feel empowered to integrate ecological criteria into purchasing decisions, the management must clearly state that it is a priority.
A policy statement on environmentally sustainable procurement explaining broad goals for the co-operative: The policy is a mechanism for integrating environmentally sustainable purchasing into the decision-making regime of the co-operative and it provides a clear context from which employees can make decisions.
The active engagement of all staff: All staff members who have responsibility for making purchasing requests and decisions, and administrative staff specifically responsible for procurement, need to be engaged in the use of the policy and its implementation through education, defined roles, responsibilities and expectations, and rewards and incentives. A training component might focus, for example, on what questions to ask when considering the purchase of a specific good or service.
A clear designation of authority: The organization clearly states who is responsible for managing the policy and ensuring that the policy is respected, staff are engaged, and that the strategy is implemented. There are rewards or incentives for staff adherence to environmentally sustainable procurement policies and procedures and for innovative or superlative performance in achieving sustainability procurement goals.
A periodic review: A review of the process is conducted at a predetermined frequency (annually is likely appropriate). Strengths and weaknesses are identified and addressed. This review and reporting should be reflected in your co-op's environmental sustainability report as a performance indicator.
Other Environmentally Sustainable Purchasing Strategies
There is a range of environmentally sustainability purchasing strategies. A few of these are listed below.
Life-cycle Costing: One manner of accounting for the ecological benefits of a product or service is to use life-cycle costing. While the initial cost of one product may be lower, when the transport, maintenance, operational costs, and durability are analyzed over the course of the lifetime of the products, the result can be very different. Life-cycle analysis is an advanced version of the same methodology that incorporates a wide range of environmental factors, such as fossil fuel depletion, water use, and toxic releases.
Certification: Certification is increasingly being used as a mechanism to guarantee to consumers that ecologically and socially responsible standards were used in the manufacture of a product. Certification labels can greatly ease the incorporation of ecological and social criteria into a purchasing strategy because an independent third party is monitoring performance and indicating whether or not it meets a set standard. Purchasers must be careful to investigate the credibility of the independent third party and the criteria it uses to assign its label.
Organizational Standards: Defined organizational standards facilitate efficient purchasing decisions. The following are some possible examples.
o Establishing Acceptable Cost Premiums: Using wood products as an example, some Forest Stewardship Council-certified products can be up to 20% more expensive than standard wood products. A company may decide that the premium price for environmentally sustainable products (FSC certified wood, 100% post-industrial, unbleached recycled paper, etc.) is acceptable and will proceed with the purchase. This information should be passed on to suppliers, who are then able to make an effort to meet that target.
o Defining Payback Limits: For products that have ongoing operating costs, payback limits can be set. For example, a policy might specify that a product or service with outstanding ecological advantages can have a payback of up to 10 years, and thus have an initial capital cost that is greater than other alternatives. Life-cycle cost analysis and internal rates of return can be used to determine these limits.
o Setting a Principled Bottom Line: The co-op can decide specific levels of commitment to the environment or communities below which it will not go. For example, it might decide that it will purchase only FSC-certified wood products, or that all food purchases will be organic and grown/harvested/produced within a certain distance of the co-operative. While the idea of a bottom line can ease the task of making purchasing decisions, it is important to recognize that the need for exceptions may arise.
o Justifying Costs: More expensive items that have ecological benefits should be purchased if the person responsible can show a means to reduce the number of items purchased. An example of this might be the printing of an annual report. A decision to purchase more expensive certified paper is offset by a reduced print run and a strategy to increase electronic/digital distribution.
o Embracing Broad Concepts: Two examples include organic and biodegradable products. Organic means products without chemicals and has traditionally been used in the context of food, however, now organic fabrics are also available. There is a wide range of organic standards with differing levels of credibility. Biodegradable means that a product will break down into components that will not damage the ecosystem. There are no certification standards for biodegradable products. Due diligence is required in both cases.
o Purchasing Matrix: A purchasing matrix assigns points to various characteristics of a product and amalgamates them into an index that then indicates to a purchasing manager which product rated the highest against the pre-determined criteria. It is essentially the traditional considerations of cost, availability, durability, etc, expanded to include a broader range of socio-economic and ecological criteria. The matrix also allows for a high degree of accountability as decision-making processes are clearly documented.
5.1 General Considerations
o Establishing Acceptable Cost Premiums: Using wood products as an example, some Forest Stewardship Council-certified products can be up to 20% more expensive than standard wood products. A company may decide that the premium price for environmentally sustainable products (FSC certified wood, 100% post-industrial, unbleached recycled paper, etc.) is acceptable and will proceed with the purchase. This information should be passed on to suppliers, who are then able to make an effort to meet that target.
