CONTENTS:  Green Buying: Link in a Value Chain  How to Make Green Buying Work  What Is a 'Green' Product?  NW Green Buying Stories  Green Buying Resources  P2 Digest  PPRC News  About this Newsletter

But How Do
You Know
It's Green?
Green Seal is an independent, non-profit organization that sets environmental standards through a transparent process and life-cycle approach. A seal of approval is given to products that meet the standards. Green Seal also publishes Choose Green reports on various product categories, such as paints, cleaners, and floor coverings. Find out more at http://www.greenseal.org

Green Buying: Link in a Value Chain

        Times are changing in the purchasing trade. Increasingly, purchasing and supply chain management are being integrated into broad business strategies for retaining competitive advantage. This approach is creating openings for "green procurement" practices that incorporate environmental objectives into broader business concerns: cost savings, value creation, quality management, and customer satisfaction.
         "The accumulated evidence suggests that environmental and, in particular, environmental supply chain management issues will gain tremendous importance in the future," said Environmental Supply Chain Management, a study published in 1998 by the Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies (CAPS).
         That’s the forecast. What’s happening on the ground now? Private Sector Pioneers, a green procurement report published by the Environmental Protection Agency this year, listed four drivers pushing businesses toward green buying: 1) Satisfying customers, 2) Distinguishing a company from its competitors, 3) Reducing costs, and 4) Joining an industry trend. In many of the examples cited in the report, environmental criteria govern vendor selection and working relationships with suppliers. "Many companies do not perceive their vendors solely as product suppliers but as partners in the production process," the EPA report said.
         The case studies examined in the Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies’ report revealed some key lessons for making green procurement work. Examples include:
Top management commitment
Results-oriented rewards structure for employees
Use of tools such as life-cycle analysis
Setting of measurable targets for environmental performance

Driver: Customer Satisfaction

Driver: Reducing Costs

Cautionary Notes

Making It Work

How to Make Green Buying Programs Work
By Karen Hamilton

        What is environmental purchasing? Why do it? How do you do it? And after you start the program, then what? This article will attempt to answer those questions, based on our experiences in the King County Environmental Purchasing Program.
         King County established a "buy recycled" policy in 1989, which was expanded in1995 to include "environmentally preferable" materials. In 1999, King County agencies purchased $3 million worth of recycled products, saving $500,000. The county also saves money and resources by buying remanufactured and more energy-efficient products.
         King County defines "environmentally preferred products" as those that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products that serve the same purpose. This comparison may consider raw materials acquisition, production, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, reuse, operation, maintenance, or disposal of the product.
         Translation: "What smarter things can we do when we purchase materials? Can we buy products that reduce waste, have recycled content, use less energy, are less toxic, and are more durable? Sure, but why? Environmentally preferred products save money and energy. They’re less toxic, which increases worker safety, and they use materials that would have otherwise been thrown away, which saves landfill space. If good quality products are available at a competitive price, and they have environmental benefits, why not buy them?
         So, how do you implement a "green purchasing" program? Here are the necessary steps to buying green, based on our experience in King County:
 
Make a statement of intent
Reason: Establishes management support and sets priorities
Example: Policy, mission, declaration
 
Put someone in charge
Reason: Establishes accountability
Example: A coordinator can research products and work with users
 
Work with departments one on one
Reason: Engages experts in the work that they know best
Example: End users know what they need. Environmental purchasing coordinators can help find products that fulfill those needs.
 
Start where you are
Reason: What products are you buying for which there are recycled alternatives?
Example: Have a department test and evaluate a new product. Don’t make the decision for them.
 
Look for products that save money
Reason: We all like to save money, especially tax dollars.
Examples: Toner cartridges (one-third the cost of new cartridges), tire retreading (half the cost of new tires), energy-efficient products.
 
Have reasonable expectations and reward small accomplishments
Reason: Change takes time. You can’t just say "buy green" and expect it to happen.
Example: When you have changed the buying habits of one person, you’ve succeeded. Build on that and go to the next person.
 
Network and share information
Reason: Learn from others, and share your successes, even though they may seem small.
Example: King County’s environmental purchasing program has a web site (http://www.metrokc.gov/procure/green) and distributes e-mail bulletins to keep in touch with county departments and other jurisdictions. Program staff subscribe to listserves and belong to national organizations.
 
Collect data and publicize
Reason: Further accountability and information sharing
Example: King County Environmental Purchasing Program’s annual report and web site.
 
         Environmental purchasing is a new area, there are many possibilities, and the people who use environmentally preferred products are just beginning to learn about them. Do your homework, bring good products and information to people, engage the expertise and the imagination of the users in the field, listen to concerns, then help them, in any way you can, to use these products. Then, do it all over again, product by product. Each battle is different and the experience gained can be built upon. Before you know it, you’ve become a leader in the environmental purchasing field, and others will be asking you "How did you do that?"

Karen Hamilton is an environmental purchasing analyst with King County’s Procurement Services Division. Contact her at 206-296-4317 or karen.hamilton@metrokc.gov.
 

Green Buying Tip: Cut Waste in the First Place
 
PAPER
The typical office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper a year. At that rate, paper used by three workers could cover the floor area of Bill Gates’ house in one year. To reduce paper waste, make sure printer default settings are on double-sided, or "duplex." Also, try image reduction. Image reduction and duplexing together can cut paper costs by half or more. Source: Cutting Paper, http://eetd.lbl.gov/
paper/actions/html/index.htm
 
OFFICE EQUIPMENT
Office equipment in homes and businesses rack up electricity bills of $2.5 billion per year. Energy saving computers can now be designed to power down to fewer than 5 watts, then "wake up" instantly. To reduce energy bills, make sure your Energy Star computer’s power management features are enabled, which can be done easily from the desktop. Source: Energy Star Office Equipment, http://www.epa.gov/
appdstar/esoe/index.html

        OK, management has decided that (your company or agency’s name here) is going to buy "green." Great. But what is a green product?
         What’s green depends on performance expectations, regulatory requirements, which environmental attributes are most important, how far across the product’s life cycle you evaluate, and tradeoffs you’re willing to make.
         There are many environmental qualities that may come into play when comparing products’ relative "greenness." Energy efficiency. Recycled content. Durability. Reduced packaging. Low toxicity. Certified sources. Companies can build green purchasing policies around one attribute or more than one.
         For example, Hewlett-Packard has global criteria for all suppliers and special criteria for certain commodities, such as plastic resins. Other tools include approved products lists, life cycle analysis and environmental management systems (EMS). For example, LSI Logic, which makes specialty semiconductors at a Gresham, Ore., plant, has found that customers view its EMS as a plus when making buying decisions. Boeing uses questionnaires to help suppliers understand environmental standards.
         Sometimes attributes conflict. Patagonia, for example, buys solvent-based rather than water-based garment coatings to help them hold their color. Water-based coatings would release fewer volatile organic compounds, but garments treated with them would be less durable.
         Certification and labeling can help buyers sort through competing claims. Key questions: Is certification carried out by an independent third party? How transparent is the certification process? What standards are used?
         Green buying is a process, not an outcome, EPA’s report on private sector green buying said. Differing performance requirements and environmental concerns can lead to different buying decisions.

Quotable

MANAGING GREEN PURCHASING
    Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s (PNNL) decentralized purchasing program uses a three-legged strategy for managing its green purchasing program: 1) educating employees, 2) involving suppliers, 3) tracking purchases. Employees with purchasing responsibilities are informed via presentations, and a green purchasing team puts out e-mail bulletins and a GreenGuide web (http://www.pnl.gov/esp/greenguide). Negotiation and communication are key to working with suppliers. The lab drove down the price of recycled products by encouraging competition among vendors. Preference is given to suppliers offering products with the most recycled content, but they also have to meet price, performance and service standards. Purchases are tracked across departments with special software. Find Out More: Sandra Cannon, PNNL, sandra.cannon@pnl.gov
    Bank of America in 1997 centralized procurement services, reduced the number of vendors for paper purchases, and established baselines for measuring reductions in paper consumption and increased use of recycled content paper. Methods used to reduce paper purchases include greater use of on-line publications. The bank estimates its paper reduction initiatives saved $14 million this year. To build markets for recycled content paper, the bank persuaded a standards setting committee for the financial services industry to accept the use of recycled paper for production of checks and other encoded documents. The bank helped form the Recycled Paper Coalition (http://www.papercoalition.org), a group of more than 250 paper buyers in public and private sectors. Find Out More: http://www.bankofamerica.com/environment/ images/bofaenviro97.pdf
    The Washington state Office of Procurement is working with the Department of Ecology to develop a standard contract for environmentally preferred cleaners. Ecology lent its expertise to help state purchasers sort through green marketing claims. Find Out More: Patricia Jatczak, Department of Ecology, pjat461@ecy.wa.gov

PRODUCT IMPROVEMENT
    Apollo Spas, headquartered in Spokane, has eliminated nearly all styrene emissions after converting to a zero-emissions production process. Apollo now purchases a styrene-free resin that has twice the tensile strength of the resin it replaced. The new material costs more up front, but finished products are stronger and product turnaround time has been shortened. Find Out More: Apollo Spas, 509-891-1933; Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority, 509-477-4727, http://www.scapca.org

MINIMIZING REGULATORY BURDEN
    Canyon Creek Cabinet Co., located in Monroe, Wash., switched to a water-borne finishing system, partly to avoid having to obtain a costly Title V air operating permit. Canyon Creek worked extensively with its finishes vendor, Akzo Noble, to test, perfect and implement a waterborne finishing system that would meet Canyon Creek’s performance needs. Find Out More: Canyon Creek Cabinet Co., 425-951-9100.
    Hytek Finishes, headquartered in Kent, Wash., has avoided the need to obtain a costly Title V air operating permit by replacing MEK with substitute cleaning solvents.

SAVING MONEY
    Boeing has retrofitted more than half its floor space with efficient lighting, shaving energy costs by $12 million each year and saving enough energy to power about 16,000 homes ... BP Exploration Alaska saves $100,000 annually, partly through purchase of energy-efficient equipment, including electronic lamp ballasts and motion sensors ... The Bremerton Naval Complex saved $278,000 last year by eliminating 9,600 chemicals from its authorized purchase list ... Davis Wright Tremaine, a Northwest law firm, saves $12,000 per year by using remanufactured toner cartridges ... Thoroughbred Collision Center in Auburn, Wash., switched to a high solids painting system with computerized mixing, greatly reducing the need for thinner purchases ... Barker-Haaland Insurance Co. in Corvallis, Ore., purchased a high-efficiency furnace, air conditioner, and variable speed fan, saving $429 on energy bills each year and improving employee comfort.

RESPONDING TO CUSTOMERS
    Bonneville Power Administration, PacifiCorp and Eugene Water and Electric Board are buying electricity from a Wyoming wind farm that can produce more than 41 megawatts of electricity each year ... The city of Ashland’s electric utility plans to sell solar-generated electricity, starting with 25 kilowatts in the first phase ... Nike has developed a procurement policy to avoid purchase of wood or paper products that originated in old growth or frontier forests.

METAL WORKING SECTORS:
PPRC has added two sector buttons of interest to metal working industries – machining and finishing. Machine shops and finishers are important sectors in the region’s economy. In-house and job shop facilities are suppliers to transportation equipment manufacturing sectors, including aerospace, heavy trucks and shipbuilding. Details are below:
        Metal Machining: The sector button includes a "living document," and links to clearinghouses with P2 resources for the machining sector, trade journals and trade associations, and relevant projects in PPRC’s Research Projects Database.
        The living document, entitled "Northwest Pollution Prevention and Regulatory Perspectives," will be updated regularly. The document contains information on regulatory issues such as worker safety, and describes P2 opportunities in eight operational areas, including fluid maintenance. Vendors, case studies and industry expertise directories also are included.
        Check it out at http://www.pprc.org/pprc/sbap/machine.html.
   Metal Finishing: The sector button includes a report on an industrial roundtable PPRC held in 1995, a total cost accounting case study, and a fact sheet for chromium electroplaters. The roundtable report details P2 opportunities for this sector, including alternatives to vapor degreasing, and alternatives to cyanide for copper plating and stripping. Other resources include links to clearinghouses with P2 resources for finishers, trade journals and trade associations, and relevant projects in PPRC’s Research Projects Database.
        Check it out at http://www.pprc.org/pprc/sbap/metalfin.html.
        For more information on either of these buttons, contact Chris Wiley at cwiley@pprc.org.

PAINTING TECHNOLOGY BRIEFS:
PPRC has begun work on a series of technology briefs describing alternative painting technologies. The first two on line cover autodeposition of organic coatings and electrocoatings. The remaining four will cover powder coating, UV-cured, water-based and high solids coatings.
        The technology briefs include summaries of the technologies’ advantages, limitations and performance characteristics, industry case studies, and lists of information resources.
        Autodeposition: http://www.pprc.org/pprc/pubs/
topics/indpaint/autophor.html
        Electrocoating: http://www.pprc.org/pprc/pubs/
topics/indpaint/e_coat.html
        For more information, contact Chris Wiley at cwiley@pprc.org

QUIZ ’99:
The Official PPRC P2 Quiz that went on line last year was a hit. Now, PPRC has a two-part quiz that you can use at home or at your office. The home version of the Official PPRC P2 Quiz: Episode 2, The Pollution Menace contains 12 questions covering home comfort, refrigerator vacuuming, leaky televisions, and other opportunities for bringing P2 home. The workplace version also contains 12 questions, covering cool lighting, duplex copying, cleaning, and other steps for reducing waste at the office. You can take either or both versions. Both have an automatic scoring feature. We hope you’ll find the new quizzes fun and informative.
Home Version: http://www.pprc.org/pprc/pubs/
quizes/quiz99home.html
Work Version: http://www.pprc.org/pprc/pubs/
quizes/quiz99work.html

Idaho GEMStars Launched
        Idaho businesses have an opportunity to be recognized for their pollution prevention accomplishments through the GEMStars program, which kicked off Sept. 22, 1999.
        GEMStars recognizes and promotes voluntary P2 measures implemented by Idaho businesses, farms, government agencies, school districts, civic organizations, and others. Interested organizations must meet at least 12 of 19 P2 criteria, such as energy and water efficiency, waste reduction, toxics use reduction, and developing employee P2 incentives.
        GEMStars members can use the program logo in advertising, and have access to technical assistance.
        For more information, contact Heather Cataldo at 208-364-4038 or gemstars@uidaho.edu.

Oregon Success Stories on Line
        Real-world examples of Oregon businesses that achieved cost savings through efficiency and waste reduction are on line at http://www.deq.state.or.us/
wmc/solwaste/cstudy.html. The web site includes a searchable data base of vignettes containing short summaries of savings that offices, health care facilities, schools, restaurants, lodging facilities, warehouses and factories achieved through energy efficiency, water efficiency and solid waste reduction.

Watershed Program Honored
        The Whatcom Watersheds Pledge Program has received Washington Governor Gary Locke’s Service and Improvement Award. The pledge program helps businesses and individuals prevent pollution of Lake Whatcom, the Bellingham area’s drinking water source, from stormwater runoff, lawn maintenance, and vehicle usage. About 350 businesses and 500 households have "taken the pledge."
        For more information, see http://www.wa.gov/ecology/
pie/1999news/99-226.html.

Vision 2020 Awards Deadline
        The deadline for submitting applications for the Puget Sound Regional Council’s Vision 2020 awards program is Dec. 31, 1999. The awards honor the best of the region’s efforts to promote strong communities, efficient transportation and a healthy environment and economy.
        For more information, contact Anne Avery at 206-587-4818 or aavery@psrc.org.

Builders Stormwater Education
        Workshops planned for December 1999 and January 2000 will help Kitsap County builders implement salmon-protective stormwater practices. The program includes development of a Best Management Practices guide for erosion and sediment control, and a homeowners’ kit to promote long-term maintenance of stormwater measures such as vegetative buffer areas.
        Workshops are planned for Kitsap County and Bainbridge Island. For more information, contact Kathleen O’Brien at 206-842-8995.

Reduce Unwanted Mail
        Most businesses receive an enormous amount of unwanted "junk" mail. Many businesses recycle their unwanted mail, but it still costs time and money to handle it. At one large Seattle-area office, a six-week study showed that the mailroom staff was spending more than 25 percent of its time sorting advertising mail.
        To help lessen this burden, take a look at the Reduce Business Junk Mail web site at http://www.metrokc.gov/
nwpc/bizjunkmail.htm. The site includes tips, examples and contacts.

Urban Sprawl Reports
        Two studies on urban sprawl and "smart growth" have been released. A study by the National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals profiles the responses of 19 companies and business coalitions to sprawl, and identifies institutional barriers, tax policies, and regulations that must be overcome if "smart growth" practices are to become widespread. The report may be ordered from http://www.nalgep.org.
        The second report is a survey of local and state policymakers conducted for the American Institute of Architects. The full report is online at http://www.e-architect.com/gov/livcomsurvey/home.htm.

Arctic Fuel Cell Research
        The U.S. Department of Energy plans to seek proposals next year for developing a residential integrated fuel cell system capable of producing grid quality power in remote Alaskan villages. The system is to operate on hydrogen from reformulated diesel. For more information, contact Nancy Hoffman at DOE, 505-845-4127.

Seattle Reuse Directory
        The Seattle Public Utilities "Use It Again, Seattle!" reuse directory is now on the Internet. It includes places to buy, rent, or donate dozens of types of goods – from boats to water heaters. In addition, it has links to other waste saving information. Check it out at http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/util/useitagain.

Oregon Small Business Resource
        "Where To Go For Free and Low Cost Assistance For Small Businesses In Oregon" is a guide to more than 90 agencies that provide free or low-cost assistance to Oregon businesses. It is available online at http://www.e-tradingpost.com/directory.html.

Local Government Waste Prevention
        Kitsap County, Washington, has recently enacted a "Waste Prevention in County Government" Ordinance. The ordinance is intended to decrease waste in local government operations by promoting the efficient use of resources, replacing toxic products with less toxic alternatives, the purchasing of environmentally-preferred products, and establishing recycling as the preferred solid waste management practice for all county operations. It includes annual accountability reviews for department heads. The ordinance can be viewed at http://www.wa.gov/kitsap/
departments/pubworks/
wastereduction.html.

Washington Environmental Excellence Award
        Frito-Lay’s Vancouver, Wash., facility was recently awarded the Environmental Excellence Award, Washington state’s highest environmental award. The company implemented innovative ways to recycle much of its waste, and even sell its waste products.
        Last year, Frito-Lay earned $387,000 from selling recyclables and saved more than $1 million in waste disposal costs. In addition, the facility has a "Green Team" that develops and uses pollution prevention alternatives. The team educates and informs employees about air, water and waste issues. For more information, see http://www.wa.gov/ecology/
pie/1999news/99-230.html.

Green Computer Manufacturers
        According to a recent study, Dell Computer is the most environmentally sensitive computer manufacturer and IBM is number two. The others in the top five are Compaq, Quantum, and Apple Computer.
        Innovest, a New York-based company, conducts research to demonstrate the relationship between company environmental initiatives and financial performance. Innovest’s research indicates that environmentally proactive companies tend to have stronger management in general, and therefore perform better financially. The trend is consistent in the industries they have studied so far – energy, chemicals and computers. Environmentally active firms outperform those ranked last by about 25 percent.
        Some of the indicators used to determine environmental excellence among computer manufacturers were whether a company has a take-back program for old computers, energy efficiency ratings for computers, and the amount of pollution generated by manufacturing plants. To see the study, visit http://www.innovestgroup.com and click on the computers industry sector report.

Sustainability on a CD-ROM
        EPA Region 10 has produced a CD-ROM describing sustainable business strategies, climate change, and smart growth. The CD includes a project evaluation guide and action ideas for individuals. For more information, contact Barbara Lither or Anne Dalrymple at 206-553-0199.

Transportation Environmental Resource Center
         The aviation, barging, trucking and rail industries have a new source for online environmental compliance information. The site includes information for each industry about environmental regulations and compliance, guides and notebooks that are available, resource bibliographies, and more. Industry news, a chat forum, and frequently asked questions are also highlighted on the site, a project of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. Visit the site at http://www.transource.org.