A great indicator of just how high profile a trend has become is the number of competing terms it attracts, and green purchasing – aka Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP), eco-procurement or sustainable consumption, to name but a few – has been riding high in the procurement agenda for some time now.

But as with many things in life, talk is cheap and since green often equals more expensive few organisations are willing (or able in truth) to genuinely embrace a shift to eco-procurement. 

If we do want a world fit for future generations, however, business needs to embrace that change sooner rather than later, and there are a few simple procurement measures that can make a lot of difference: 

»       Buy local – many eProcurement systems have the facility for both local and national contracts to be presented against define spend categories

»       Promote the use of graphic indicators within supplier catalogues (eg the Mobius Loop 3 arrow recycling symbol)

»       Include green credentials as part of product comparison or preferred supplier rules within your eProcurement system

»       Use the tendering process (ideally electronic) to drive green supplier selection by including weighted questions around green issues, such as the reuse/recycling of goods

»       A financial weighting can even be applied against suppliers in an electronic auction, giving a £ note preference to suppliers based on their environmental credentials 

And as a footnote, we can of course deliver a greener world just through the adoption of streamlined electronic processes that deliver obvious benefit through things like reduction in paper use, and less obvious but higher impact benefits in areas such as order and delivery consolidation and reduced stockholdings.