Greening Government E-Procurement of Office Supplies 
CONTENTS 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .III

DISCLAIMER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .V

FOREWORD:THE GENESIS AND PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT . . . .VII

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .IX

DEFINITIONS & ACRONYMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .XI

SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION 

Status of Government Office Supply Purchasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Drivers for E-Procurement of Office Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Drivers for Greening Online Ordering System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Representative Federal Agency-Specific E-Catalogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

SECTION 2 ESTABLISHING A GREEN

OFFICE SUPPLY CONTRACT 15

Agency Working Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Considerations for Multiple BPAs vs. a Single BPA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Considerations for the Source Selection Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Considerations for Mandatory vs.Voluntary E-Catalog Use . . . . . . . .18

Socio-Economic Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

SECTION 3 CHOOSING GREEN OFFICE PRODUCTS 21

Reliable Green Purchasing Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Price of Green Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Performance of Green Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Purchasing Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

SECTION 4 MONITORING GREEN PURCHASES 29

Tracking Green Purchases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Transaction Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Vendor Role in Tracking and Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

CONTENTS  I 

1 
SECTION 5 ENHANCING GREEN PURCHASING 33

Employee Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Outreach to Customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

SECTION 6 CONCLUSION 37

APPENDIX A—EPA GREEN PURCHASING CRITERIA . . . . . . . . .39

APPENDIX B—EPA RFP FOR GREEN

OFFICE SUPPLY VENDOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

APPENDIX C—FEDERAL AGENCY ENVIRONMENTAL

POINTS OF CONTACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

APPENDIX D—EPA ANNOUNCEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

II  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would like to thank all of 

the agencies and individuals who shared lessons learned and encouraged 

us in the development of this document. In particular, the foresight and 

innovation of Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and the Naval Undersea 

Warfare Center (NUWC) in Newport, RI inspired EPA—as a purchaser and as 

an encourager of other purchasers—to explore the green purchasing opportunities that agency-specific e-catalogs could provide to federal agencies. These two 

organizations helped us immeasurably in understanding how an agency could 

go about developing an agency-specific, green e-catalog. 

We greatly appreciate the assistance and valuable editing input of the 

Office of the Federal Environmental Executive (OFEE) and the Executive 

Order 13101 Interagency Advisory Group (EOIAG). We want to thank the 

former Procurement Executives Council (PEC) for helping to identify agencies 

with e-catalogs in place. Thanks also to EPA’s Comprehensive Procurement 

Guidelines Program whose staff were key partners in the development of 

EPA’s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Criteria for office products 

(included as Appendix A to this report) and to the Integrated Acquisition 

Environment E-Marketplace Group (including representatives from GSA and 

DLA) for review of this report. 

We also offer our sincere thanks to EPA’s Office of Acquisition 

Management, particularly, Kerrie O’Hagan, Karen Lee, Cheryl Upton and 

Kristin Wright. Their interest in and commitment to creating a Blanket 

Purchase Agreement (BPA) for green office supplies at EPA provided the 

impetus for this report. 

Other Agencies and individuals whose expertise informed the contents of 

this report include: 

Agency Facility Contact Person 

Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) 

Office of Procurement and Property 

Management 

J.R. Holcombe, Jr., Procurement Analyst 

richard.holcombe@usda.gov 

(202) 720-8484 

Department of Defense (DOD) Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) John Hix, Intramart Manager 

hixje@npt.nuwc.navy.mil 

(401) 832-4820 

Department of Defense (DOD) Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) Kim Gossett, 

Kim.Gossett@wpafb.af.mil 

Timothy Inman, eGPC Project Manager 

Timothy.Inman@wpafb.af.mil 

(937) 904-0424 

Department of Energy (DOE) Idaho National Engineering and 

Environmental Lab (INEEL) 

Heather Merrill, Buyer/Affirmative Procurement 

Program Administrator 

Contractor: Bechtel BWXT Idaho 

merrhj@inel.gov 

(208) 526-0499 

Department of Energy (DOE) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Marty Stunkel, 

pcs@llnl.gov 

(925) 423-3448 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS  III 
Agency Facility Contact Person 

Department of Energy (DOE) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 

(PNNL) 

Sandra Cannon, EPP Coordinator 

Contractor: Battelle 

sandra.cannon@pnl.gov 

Department of Energy (DOE) Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site Jim Worthy, E-Procurement Administrator 

Contractor: S.M. Stoller Corporation 

jim.worthy@rfets.gov 

(303) 966-3786 

Department of Energy (DOE) Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) James Romero, Buyer 

jromero@sandia.gov 

(505) 844-3411 

Anastasia Richardson, P2 Coordinator 

Contractor: Shaw Environmental 

arichar@sandia.gov 

(505) 284-3983 

Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service Joe Gregory 

Joe.Gregory@irs.gov 

(202) 283-1254 

Department of the Treasury Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Frank Sutherland, Contract Manager 

FrankSutherland@occ.treas.gov 

(202) 874-4987 

Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) 

Region 8 Dianne Thiel, Federal Facilities Coordinator 

thiel.dianne@epa.gov 

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA) 

Langley Research Center (LaRC) Kristin Poultney, Environmental Contract Mgr: SAIC 

k.k.poultney@larc.nasa.gov 

Mike Stubbs, Contracting Officer 

m.t.stubbs@larc.nasa.gov 

Richard Siebel, NASA Bank Card Manager 

Richard.J.Siebels@nasa.gov 

Linda Fitzgerald—LaRC Credit Card Manager 

l.p.fitzgerald@larc.nasa.gov 

Susan McClain, Small Procurement Contract Manager 

s.e.mcclain@larc.nasa.gov 

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration (NASA) 

Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Principal 

Center for Recycling and Affirmative 

Procurement 

Shannah Trout, Affirmative Procurement Coordinator 

Contractor: Dynamac Corporation 

shannah.trout-1@ksc.nasa.gov 

(321) 867-8443 

National Institutes of 

Health (NIH) 

Jeff Weiner, IT Enterprise Architecture Manager 

jweiner@nih.gov 

(301) 496-7058 

Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) 

Steve Eslin, Property Management 

JSE@nrc.gov 

(301) 415-2050 

Smithsonian Institution Charlotte Davis, Asst. Manager, Procurement Division 

DavisC@si.edu 

(202) 275-1258 

State of California Department of General Services Roberta F. Hinchman, CAL-Card Prog. Statewide 

Administrator 

Roberta.Hinchman@dgs.ca.gov 

Robert Riola, Lead Buyer 

Bob.Riola@dgs.ca.gov 

State of California California Integrated Waste Management 

Board (CIWMB) 

Kimya Lambert 

klambert@ciwmb.ca.gov 

U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Karen Kallipolites 

karen.e.kallipolites@usps.gov 

Lee Crane, Supply Management Division 

lee.s.crane@usps.gov 

IV  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
DISCLAIMER 

This report provides an overview of recent federal government office 

supply e-procurement initiatives and includes references to specific 

products and technologies. These references are included to provide 

additional details and do not constitute endorsement of or recommendation 

for use of these products by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA). This report features representative federal government online 

purchasing activities. It does not represent the online purchasing efforts of 

every federal government agency initiating such activities and it does not 

describe every activity initiated by the agencies highlighted. 

DISCLAIMER  V 

FOREWORD 

THE GENESIS AND PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT 

The purpose of this report is to help 

government agencies green their 

purchases of office supplies. 

All federal procurement officials 

are required by Executive Order 

(E.O.) 13101 and the Federal 

Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to engage in Environmentally Preferable 

Purchasing (EPP), the practice of buying products and/or services that have 

a lesser or reduced impact on the environment and human health, when 

compared to competing products or services that serve the same purpose. 

However, identifying greener products or services and educating agency 

purchasers on which products and/or services to buy has been challenging. 

Concerns about access to accurate product information and increased 

decentralization of government purchasing have limited green purchasing. 

This is particularly true for office supplies, many, if not most, of which are 

obtained via small purchases made with Purchase Cards. 

The purpose of this report is to help government agencies 

green their office suppl

products through ag

y purchases by sharing information 

about how EP

ency-specific e-ca

A and other federal agencies purchase green 

talogues. 

In 2002, the EPA launched an effort to purchase all non-electronic office 

supplies bought with Purchase Cards via one nationwide BPA. This BPA 

gives EPA access to a commercially 

owned, agency-specific e-catalog, an 

online directory of products and 

services available for sale based on 

customer-specific requirements 

under a pre-negotiated contract 

vehicle. EPA made a commitment 

to maximize the number of green 

products available for purchase through this e-catalog. Toward this goal, EPA 

reviewed existing criteria, standards and guidelines used by a variety of U.S. 

organizations to define green office products. EPA then developed its own office 

product green purchasing criteria (See Appendix A). 

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) refers to 

the practice of buying products and/or services that have 

a lesser or reduced impact on the environment and human 

health, when compared to competing products or services 

that serve the same purpose. 

In preparation for launching this e-catalog, EPA identified and 

interviewed procurement and environmental staff representing a variety of 

government agencies who provide access to office supplies through agencyspecific e-catalogs. EPA selected these interviewees based on recommendations from the E.O. 13101 Interagency Advisory Group (EOIAG), the 

Procurement Executives Council (PEC) and government office supply 

vendors. Learning about the various approaches agencies took to developing 

their catalogs and the ways some agencies have made green products available 

to their purchasers through these e-catalogs has greatly informed EPA’s 

efforts. Through this report EPA will share the lessons learned to help other 

government agencies green their office supply purchases made via current or 

future agency-specific e-catalogs. 

FOREWORD  VII 
The intended audience for this report includes federal government staff 

who may be involved in the development and/or maintenance of their 

agency’s Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for office supply purchases, 

accessed by an agency-specific e-catalog. This includes federal government 

Information Technology (IT) managers, Purchase Card Program Managers, 

Acquisition Managers, advocates of green purchasing and staff participating 

in the development of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) for 

government facilities. This report also may apply to efforts by public or 

private purchasers to green the e-procurement of other categories of products 

and services. 

For additional information related to the contents of this report, please 

contact Holly Elwood of the EPA’s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing 

Program at (202) 564-8854. For additional information on the EPP Program 

or to access existing resources that can help you identify and purchase green 

products, please visit the EPP Program’s website at <www.epa.gov/ 

oppt/epp>. 

VIII  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

As a result of the research conducted to complete this report, EPA has 

learned that: 

	 Many Federal agencies currently are purchasing office supplies via 

agency-specific e-catalogs, based on both national and facilityspecific contracts.1 Agencies cited cost savings through group 

discounts, reduced time spent on routine processing of orders, 

improved tracking and monitoring capabilities and increased ability 

to direct purchasers to products meeting agency purchasing 

priorities as the main reasons for providing access to office products 

through these vehicles. 

	 Some agencies have made an effort to increase the number of green 

products available for purchase via their e-catalog (see Chart 1, page 

10). Certain agencies limit the products available for purchase to 

those that meet EPA’s recycled content guidelines. As a result of 

offering only products compliant with the Comprehensive 

Procurement Guidelines (CPG) in specific product categories, the 

Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories reported 

that purchases of recycled content products increased from less than 

50 percent of overall purchases in FY00 to more than 80 percent in 

FY 02.2 

	 Some agencies have made the agency-specific e-catalog the only 

authorized mechanism for the purchase of office supplies. Between 

FY 01 and FY 02, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center noted a 20 percent 

increase in purchases of recycled products as a percentage of total 

purchases via their mandatory e-catalog.

3 

	 Federal agencies use government Purchase Cards for most of their 

non-electronic office supply purchases. According to the Office of 

Management and Budget, slightly more than 400,000 Purchase 

Cards were in circulation as of April 2002 and government agencies 

spent more than $15 billion dollars via government Purchase Cards 

in FY 02. While exact figures for annual office supply purchases do 

not exist: 

	 EPA estimates annual office supply expenditures of $5 million, 

or about 14 percent of its $35.8 million total purchases via 

2,000 Purchase Cards.4 

1

See Charts 1 and 2, pages 10–13 for a list of federal agencies using online ordering systems 

contacted for this report. 

2

Personal communication, Jimmy Romero, SNL, September, 2003. 

3

Personal communication, Shannah Trout, KSC, September, 2003. 

4

EPA BPA for Office Supplies Technical Evaluation Team 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  IX 
	 The Department of Energy’s laboratories recorded more than 

$34 million in Purchase Card transactions for office supplies, 

about 16 percent of their total $207.5 million in Purchase Card 

activity.

5 

	 The Army spends approximately $100 million on office supplies 

each year or about 6 percent of their $1.7 billion dollars in 

purchases via more than 100,000 Purchase Cards.6 

	 In FY 2001, the U.S. Postal Service spent $125 million for office 

supplies, nearly 5 percent of their $2.6 billion total procurement of goods and services.7 

	 The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has estimated 

that its 170,000 employees spend $85 million per year on nonelectronic office supplies. DHS currently is developing green 

purchasing specifications for a forthcoming solicitation.8 

	 In addition, the Federal Procurement Data Center reports $141 

million in contracted transactions (greater than $25,000) for Office 

Supplies and Devices for fiscal 2002.9 

	 EPA’s green purchasing criteria (see Appendix A) are more comprehensive than any other known federal government effort, to date, to 

provide greener office products to agency staff. For those product 

categories for which EPA has established green purchasing criteria, 

products that meet or exceed EPA’s standards for positive environmental attributes (including recycled content, processed chlorine free 

paper, reduced toxicity and non-ozone depleting) will be the products of choice. The green purchasing criteria will be altered and 

strengthened as office products with additional positive environmental attributes become available. 

	 EPA’s office products contract requires recycling of all used toner 

cartridges and batteries. 

	 Vendor evaluation criteria used in the award of EPA’s Office Supply 

BPA included having an Environmental Management System(EMS) 

in place or in development and green fleet purchase and 

maintenance programs. 

5

Data on government Purchase Card use from Federal Supply Service, GSA Smart Pay 

Program Office, included in the Federal Procurement Report. The Federal Procurement 

Report is available at <http://www.fpdc.gov/fpdc/FPR2002a.pdf> 

6

<http://purchasecard.saalt.army.mil> 

7

GAO-03-230 Contract Management, January 2003. 

8

Meeting between EPA and DHS Office Supplies Commodities Council, October 28, 2003. 

9

Federal Procurement Data Center Agency summary for FSC Group 75, Office Supplies and 

Devices <http://www.fpdc.gov/fpdc/fpdc_home.htm> 

X  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
DEFINITIONS AND ACRONYMS 

Agency-specific e-catalog—An online directory of products and services 

available for sale only to staff of the agency. 

Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA)—a simplified method of filling anticipated repetitive needs for supplies or services by establishing a contract or 

contracts with qualified sources of supply. 

Commercially owned e-catalog—A vendor owned and maintained online 

directory of products and services available for sale and purchase from that 

vendor. 

Commercially owned, agency-specific e-catalog—An online directory of 

products and services available for sale and purchase by staff of an agency, 

based on customer-specific requirements under a pre-negotiated contract 

vehicle with a commercial vendor. 

E-procurement—The sale and purchase of products and services via the 

internet. 

Federally owned, agency-specific e-catalog—An online directory, maintained by a federal agency, of products and services available for sale and 

purchase by staff of that agency based on customer-specific requirements 

under pre-negotiated contract vehicles with multiple commercial vendors. 

Federally managed e-catalog—A federally managed online directory of 

products and services available for purchase by staff of federal agencies via 

negotiated commercially owned e-catalogs and the federal catalog of managed 

National Stock Numbers (e.g., DOD E-Mall). 

Federally owned e-catalog—A federal government owned and operated 

online directory of products and services available for sale and purchase by 

staff of federal agencies based on pre-negotiated contract vehicles with 

multiple commercial vendors (e.g., GSA Advantage). 

BPA Blanket Purchasing Agreement 

CPG Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines 

DHS Department of Homeland Security 

DOD Department of Defense 

DOE Department of Energy 

DOT Department of Transportation 

EOIAG E.O. 13101 Interagency Advisory Group 

EMS Environmental Management System 

EO Executive Order 

EPA Environmental Protection Agency 

EPP Environmentally Preferable Purchasing 

FAR Federal Acquisition Regulation 

FEMP Federal Energy Management Program 

DEFINITIONS AND ACRONYMS  XI 
GSA General Services Administration

INEEL Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory

IT Information Technology

JWOD Javits Wagner O’Day Act

KSC Kennedy Space Center

LaRC Langley Research Center

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NIB National Industries for the Blind

NUWC Naval Undersea Warfare Center

OARM Office of Administration and Resources Management (EPA)

OEM Original equipment manufacturer

OFEE Office of the Federal Environmental Executive

OFPP Office of Federal Procurement Policy

OPM Office of Personnel Management

OSDBU Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization

RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

PEC Procurement Executives Council

PNNL Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

SNL Sandia National Laboratories

USDA U.S. Department of Agriculture

VA Department of Veterans Affairs

XII  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION 

Government procurement officials have an increasingly challenging job. 

They must fulfill ongoing and immediate demands for goods and 

services, while navigating an increasingly varied and complex array 

of procurement vehicles, methods, 

and practices. In addition, they 

must continually integrate new 

federal requirements into both 

ongoing and planned procurements. 

Incorporation of environmental considerations into the federal 

government purchasing process has been a requirement for more than twenty 

years. Various federal laws, Executive Orders and the FAR require federal 

agencies to buy green. All federal procurement officials are required by the 

Federal Acquisition Regulation and Executive Order 13101, Greening the 

Government through Waste Prevention, Recycling and Federal Acquisition, to 

assess and give preference to those products and services that are 

environmentally preferable. Environmentally preferable products and services 

are defined as those which “have a lesser or reduced effect on human health 

and the environment when compared to other products and services that 

serve the same purpose. This comparison may consider raw materials 

acquisition, production, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, reuse, 

operation, maintenance or disposal of the product or service.”10 The FAR 

Part 23 addresses government policy on acquisition of recycled content, 

biobased, environmentally preferable and energy efficient products and 

services; Part 7 emphasizes consideration of the environmental and energy 

impacts of acquisition. EO 13101 requires agencies to consider the following 

factors in acquisition planning for all procurements and in the evaluation and 

award of contracts: “elimination of virgin material requirements; use of 

biobased products; use of recovered materials; reuse of product; life cycle 

cost; recyclability; use of environmentally preferable products; waste 

prevention (including toxicity reduction or elimination); and ultimate 

disposal.”11 Section 6002 of the 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery 

Act (RCRA) requires federal agencies to purchase EPA-designated products 

with recycled content and Section 9002 of the 2002 Farm Security and Rural 

Investment Act directs federal agencies to purchase USDA-designated 

biobased products. 

The chart found on page 10 indicates that a variety of federal agencies 

and facilities are using BPAs to purchase office supplies. Most BPAs give 

Agencies access to e-catalogs tailored to meet their needs. Agencies have 

demonstrated that the introduction of e-catalogs offers an opportunity to 

simplify access to environmentally preferable products and, thus, to increase 

their purchase. 

The introduction of e-catalogs offers an opportunity to 

simplify access to environmentally preferable products 

and, thus, to increase their purchase. 

10E.O. 13101, Section 201 

11E.O. 13101, Section 401 

INTRODUCTION  1 
This document illustrates how federal agencies have 

incorporated green purchasing into the e-procurement 

of office supplies by and for government workers. As 

noted in the acknowledgments, this report is based on 

interviews with procurement and environmental staff 

from a diverse group of government agencies and 

installations, many of whom already purchase green 

products through agency-specific e-catalogs. According 

to these agencies, some with several years experience 

with e-procurement, the benefits include: ease of use, 

reduced transaction costs, reduced product costs, supply 

chain efficiencies, enhanced tracking and reporting 

capabilities, quick and simple payment of invoices, 

enhanced controls over spending and authorizations, and reduction or 

elimination of the need to warehouse commonly used products. 

The report is organized around five major topics: 

 The Status of Government Office Supply Purchases 

A discussion of how federal facilities currently purchase office 

supplies; 

 Establishing a Green Office Supply Contract 

How agencies have integrated green requirements into their BPAs 

and provided access to office supplies via agency-specific e-catalogs; 

 Choosing Green Office Products 

How agencies identify and select green products; 

 Monitoring Green Purchases 

How agencies are tracking the purchase of green products; and 

 Enhancing Green Purchasing 

Examples of green purchasing program outreach and training 

efforts 

Status of Government Office Supply Purchasing 

At the forefront of changes in government procurement is the way government agencies and facilities purchase office supplies. These changes are due to 

the typical small dollar value of individual office supply orders, the off-theshelf availability of office supply products, access to these products via ecatalogs, and increased reliance on government Purchase Cards. Although 

individual office supply purchases are small, the overall size of this federal 

government market is huge. According to the Federal Procurement Data 

Center, the total dollar value of contracted transactions (greater than 

$25,000) for Office Supplies and Devices for fiscal year 2002 was nearly $141 

million.12 However, since most office supplies are obtained via micro purchases 

12Federal Procurement Data Center <http://www.fpdc.gov/fpdc/fpdc_home.htm>, Agency 

summary for FSC Group 75, Office Supplies and Devices. 

2  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
(less than $2,500) made with Purchase Cards, the market actually is much

larger than this figure indicates. EPA, for example, estimates annual office

supply expenditures of $5 million, or about 14 percent of its $35.8 million

total purchases via nearly 2,000

Purchase Cards. The Department

of Energy’s laboratories recorded 

more than $34 million in Purchase 

Card transactions for office 

supplies, about 16 percent of a 

total $207.5 million in Purchase 

Card activity.

13 The Army spends 

A recent trend in federal office supply purchases is the 

development of BPAs with office supply vendors who 

provide access to products via agency-specific e-catalogs. 

sing

The BPA consolidates access to product offerings from a 

large number of manufacturer

le contract. 

s and suppliers under a 

approximately $100 million on office supplies each year, or about 6 percent 

of their $1.7 billion dollars in purchases via more than 100,000 Purchase 

Cards.14 In FY 2001, the U.S. Postal Service spent $125 million for office 

supplies, nearly 5 percent of their $2.6 billion total procurement of goods 

and services.15 The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has estimated 

that its 170,000 employees spend $85 million per year on non-electronic 

office supplies. DHS currently is developing green purchasing specifications 

for a forthcoming solicitation. 

Agencies buy office supplies from a variety of sources including GSA 

Advantage, DOD E-mall, commercially owned catalogs, and brick and mortar 

stores. A recent trend in federal office supply purchases is the development of 

BPAs with office supply vendors who provide access to products via agencyspecific e-catalogs. 

The BPA allows procurement staff to use the contracting process to preselect one or more vendors from whom workers purchase all office supplies. 

The BPA consolidates access to product offerings from a large number of 

manufacturers and suppliers under a single contract. The individual customer 

is able to look through all of the product offerings and use an identification 

number or Purchase Card to order the exact quantity of each item they need, 

when they need it. Customers may select products from paper or e-catalogs 

and purchase via telephone, fax, or the internet. The contracted vendor may 

become a partner in the design and maintenance of an agency-specific 

e-catalog, to ensure that the selection and presentation of products meets the 

current needs of the organization and is capable of responding to future 

changes in procurement requirements. The vendor also may provide a single 

point of contact who will work with a federal client to provide staff training 

in e-procurement and to resolve any problems. The contracted vendor under a 

BPA is usually paid by a percentage of sales of the products sold through the 

BPA. 

13Data on government Purchase Cards from Federal Supply Service, GSA Smart Pay Program 

Office, included in the Federal Procurement Report. The Federal Procurement Report is 

available at <http://www.fpdc.gov/fpdc/FPR2002a.pdf> 

14<http://purchasecard.saalt.army.mil> 

15GAO-03-230 Contract Management, January 2003. 

INTRODUCTION  3 
Drivers for E-Procurement of Office Supplies 

According to federal agency staff interviewed for this report, the following 

drivers led them to establish office supply BPAs and provide access to office 

supplies via agency-specific e-catalogs: 

 Cost savings; 

 Reduced time spent on routine processing of orders; 

 Improved tracking and monitoring capabilities; 

 Increased availability of up-to-date product information; 

 Ease of use; 

 Increased ability to meet mandatory source-of-supply requirements; 

 Increased ability to meet agency-specific purchasing goals; and 

 Improved satisfaction of customers and procurement professionals. 

Cost Savings 

Micro-purchasing is the bane of any organization, since it involves high 

volume purchases of low dollar value items. As much as 80 percent of an 

organization’s purchasing volume may constitute only about 20 percent of 

the dollars spent, so procurement staff often spends an inordinate amount of 

time processing purchase orders and billing for small purchases. The National 

Association of Purchasing Management estimates the administrative cost of 

processing a typical paper purchase order is between $120 and $150, for an 

order usually worth less than $500.16 The Institute for Supply Management 

estimates that the cost of an online transaction from requisition to receipt of 

product is 90 percent less than the cost of the same transaction via paper 

purchase order.

17 

BPAs allow contracting officials the opportunity to negotiate competitive 

pricing, such as a given percentage reduction from the retail price for each 

item. Due to guaranteed volumes, contracted prices should be lower than 

GSA schedule prices. For example, 

the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

(USDA) negotiated a BPA that offers 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) ne

list. 

gotiated a 

BPA that offers office supplies at up to 69 percent below 

office supplies at up to 69 percent 

below list.18 The State of California 

established a BPA which gives them 

office supplies at 63 percent below list. The contract includes a one percent 

price incentive for payments made via Cal Card. 

To compete with brick and mortar stores, more and more BPAs incorporate Just-In-Time (JIT) delivery provisions. As its name implies, a JIT agreement indicates that the vendor will deliver specific office supply items within 

an established time period. For example, in their Master Purchase Agreement 

16GovTech Magazine, 1998, <www.govtech.net/magazine/govinternetguide/gig98/ 

multistate.phtml> 

17Personal communication from U.S. Postal Service, Office of Supply Management, 

September 15, 2003. 

18Bulletin 02-200 Procurement and Property Division, Policy Branch, AFM/ARS 

4  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
for office supplies, the State of California requires the vendor to deliver the 

most commonly ordered office products to the customer within 24 hours.19 

BPAs with JIT delivery also offer substantial cost savings by eliminating 

the need for onsite warehousing. The Naval Undersea Warfare Center 

(NUWC) discovered that elimination 

of warehousing and secondary 

delivery of common supplies saved 

NUWC $0.36 per $1.00 on locally 

stocked items. 

Improved Tracking and 

Monitoring of Procurement 

Activities 

The Naval Undersea Warfare Center discovered that their 

BPA eliminated the need for onsite warehousing and 

secondary delivery of common supplies, saving NUWC 

$0.36 per $1.00 on locally stocked items. 

J. Hix, Intramart Manager, NUWC 

Federal agencies have established vendor tracking and reporting requirements

in their office supply BPAs, since merchants have line item detail (Level-3)

reporting capability. Contracted

vendors provide transaction data in

a configuration that can be accessed,

consolidated and formatted to help

agencies manage, analyze and report on their procurement activities.

Access to these data significantly

improves an agency’s ability to

document performance against green

purchasing requirements and socio-economic goals, such as purchases from

Javits Wagner O’Day (JWOD) program sources or small businesses. These

data also may assist in identifying areas where improvement may be needed.

From the data we receive, we can monitor all recycled, 

mandatory source, small business, minority owned and 

best buy purchases from the BPA holder. We currently are 

running at about 65 percent of all purchases falling within 

these areas. 

J. Hix, Intramart Manager, NUWC 

John Hix, Intramart Manager at NUWC in Newport, RI, noted that 

NUWC is using their commercially-owned, agency-specific e-catalog to provide data on the dollars spent on green products, as well as products purchased from small, minority or woman-owned businesses and the National 

Industries for the Blind. 

One of NUWC’s BPAs includes the following reporting requirements: 

	 Daily download including procurement request number, originating 

code, job order number, originator’s name, location and total amount 

of the procurement, as well as a description, unit price, quantity 

extended price, serial number and category of each line item. 

	 Monthly usage/sales reports which detail in chronological order each 

individual purchase including date, account number, item(s) 

description, and quantity. 

	 Quarterly electronic report of the above information organized by 

department. 

	 Quarterly electronic report of the above information organized by 

account or organization. 

19Personal communication, Robert Riola. 

INTRODUCTION  5 
	 Quarterly report on purchases of recycled products by category 

(i.e., paper ) and quantity. 

	 Quarterly report on purchases from small, disadvantaged and 

women-owned businesses. 

The Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) in New 

Mexico has established separate BPAs for the purchase of printer toner cartridges, office paper, and janitorial paper products (toilet paper, tissues, paper 

towels etc.) with small (8A), local businesses. SNL purchases all other office 

supplies via a BPA with national vendor, Boise Office Solutions. SNL staff 

purchases from all of these contracts via a single, federally owned, agencyspecific e-catalog. 

With SNL’s Oracle-based online ordering system, all of the necessary 

tracking information (item, price, recycled content, vendor etc.) is already 

captured in the database through the ordering process. SNL staff reduces the 

data by performing key word searches in the Item Description field (i.e. 

searching for paper, toner, binder, etc.) and then downloads that data into a 

separate program that matches the unique product item number with the 

associated requirement(s).20 

Increased Availability of Up-to-Date Product Information 

Vendor catalogs contain a wide range of information including product 

descriptions and prices, vendor and manufacturer names, parts numbers and 

any unique attributes associated with the product. Several agencies cited the 

benefits of e-catalogs when compared to paper catalogs. They found that 

paper catalogs are cumbersome to search and frequently out-of-date. Since 

vendors update both commercial and agency-specific e-catalogs several times 

each year, adding new products and 

price adjustments, e-catalogs are Anyone can place an order online. You choose the product 

you want, put it in your shopping cart, hit approve and 

it’s ordered. You don’t have to keep any paperwork. 

J. Romero, Buyer, DOE/SNL 

usually up-to-date and can indicate, 

immediately, whether an item is in 

the warehouse inventory or must be 

back ordered. In addition, while 

paper catalogs are vendor specific, agency-specific e-catalogs may provide 

access to thousands of items on multiple contracts in a searchable database. 

Some agencies still use both paper and e-catalogs; others, such as NUWC, 

allow purchases of office supplies only via the e-catalog. 

Ease of Use 

E-catalogs are easy to use. Agency customers place orders from their desktop 

computers using screens that are familiar to them. Depending on how the 

agency-specific e-catalog is developed, each customer may be able to create a 

quick reference, personal list for those items ordered frequently. Contracted 

vendors generally guarantee desktop delivery of most items within 24 hours, and 

can process “no questions asked” returns online, as well. Procurement policies 

and restrictions can be built into the system, freeing the customer from concerns 

about buying prohibited items. In addition, procurement staff may have 

reduced responsibilities for initiating and managing micro-purchases. 

20Personal communication, Stacy Richardson, SNL, December, 2003. 

6  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
Drivers for Greening Online Ordering Systems 

The federal government is the largest purchaser of goods and services in the 

world. Federal agencies can leverage this purchasing power to encourage the 

use of products and services that minimize 

consumption of raw materials, reduce waste and 

improve the quality of the environment. Federal 

agencies that have established BPA’s based on 

green criteria for office supplies have taken two 

approaches to incorporating these environmental criteria into their e-catalogs: 

	 Identifying green products within a larger universe of products 

available by placing a symbol next to the environmental product’s 

entry in the catalog, or 

	 Limiting offerings to only those products with positive 

environmental attributes. 

The following drivers were cited by agencies successful in greening the 

product offerings in their agency-specific e-catalogs: 

 Legal requirements; 

 Improved access to green products; 

 Increased purchase of green products; 

 Improved tracking and monitoring of green purchases; and 

 Improved environmental performance for the agency. 

Meet Legal Requirements 

As noted in the introduction, all federal procurement officials are required to 

assess and give preference to those products and services that are environmentally preferable. E.O. 13101 requires each agency to create goals for 

purchasing environmentally preferable products and to document progress 

toward meeting these goals. Section 6002 of the Resource Conservation and 

Recovery Act (RCRA) directs federal agencies to purchase those recycled 

content products designated by EPA in the Comprehensive Procurement 

Guidelines (CPG).21 

The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 directs the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture (USDA) to designate biobased products and provide 

guidance for purchasing those products, similar to the buy-recycled program 

under RCRA. USDA plans to designate products in multiple categories which 

may include fibers, paper and packaging, inks and plastics. Federal agencies will 

be required to purchase biobased products when price and performance equal 

that of competing products. Biobased products currently used by Federal 

agencies include soy-based inks, citrus-based and other biobased cleaning 

products, compostable food service products, absorbents, ethanol, biodiesel, 

lubricants, compost, and mulch. USDA also will establish a voluntary biobased 

21For additional information on the Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG) visit 

<www.epa.gov/cpg/> 

INTRODUCTION  7 
products labeling program.22 Government agencies will track their purchases of 

biobased products and report on them to the Office of Federal Procurement 

Policy (OFPP) and the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive (OFEE). 

EO 13123 specifies that Agencies shall select, where life-cycle costeffective, ENERGY STAR® and other energy-efficient products. For product 

groups where ENERGY STAR® labels are not yet available, agencies shall 

select products that are in the upper 

25 percent of energy efficiency as Purchases of recycled content products increased by 

$106,000 in the fiscal year after the Naval Undersea 

Warfare Center’s Intramart became the mandatory source 

for office supplies. 

J. Hix, Intramart Manager, NUWC 

designated by FEMP. Agencies shall 

incorporate energy-efficient criteria 

consistent with ENERGY STAR® 

and other FEMP-designated energy 

efficiency levels into product 

specification language developed for Basic Ordering Agreements, Blanket 

Purchasing Agreements, Government Wide Acquisition Contracts and all 

other purchasing procedures.23 

Under EO 13221, Agencies that purchase products that use external 

standby power devices or products that contain an internal standby power 

function should select those that use no more than one watt in their standby 

power consuming mode. If compliant products are not available, agencies 

should purchase products with the lowest standby power wattage. 

Improve access to and purchase of green products 

According to Kerrie O’Hagan, EPA’s National Purchase Card Program 

Manager, “EPA decided to make the agency’s BPA ‘green’ because of the 

opportunity to use our purchases to actualize our mission—to protect the 

environment. In addition to providing bulk discounts and improved tracking, 

our new BPA will make it easier for EPA Purchase Card users to buy green 

office supplies every time they make a purchase, increasing our overall green 

product purchases. It’s a win-win-win situation for us.” 

Some agencies have worked with their contracted vendor(s) to ensure that 

the products offered in their agency-specific e-catalogs meet or exceed all 

relevant environmental criteria specified in the BPA and to identify those green 

products for agency customers. Creating an e-catalog in which the available 

product offerings meet applicable agency green purchasing criteria eliminates 

the challenge of depending on each individual purchaser to select green products 

from the range of products available for purchase. The customer simply orders 

what he or she needs, confident that the selection is environmentally sound. 

John Hix reports that purchases of recycled content products increased 

by $106,000 in the fiscal year after the Naval Undersea Warfare Center’s 

Intramart became the mandatory vehicle for purchasing office supplies.24 

NASA’s Kennedy Space Center reported a 20 percent increase in purchases of 

recycled content products via the agency-specific e-catalog over one year.

25 

22For further information on these reporting requirements, visit <http://www.ofee.gov/gp/ 

bioprod.html> 

23For further information visit <http://www.eere.energy.gov/femp/resources/exec13123.html> 24Personal communication, John Hix, NUWC, June, 2003. 25Personal communication, Shannah Trout, KSC, September, 2003. 

8  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
Improve Tracking and Monitoring of Green Purchases 

As stated previously, agencies are required to track and report on their green

purchases. To comply with Section 6002 of the Resource Conservation and

Recovery Act (RCRA), beginning in

FY 2004, all federal agencies will be

required to report to OFPP and

OFEE on their purchases of products that meet the recycled content

standards in EPA’s Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines.26 In addition, federal

John Hix, Intramart Manager at NUWC, notes that he is 

able to monitor purchases of recycled content products 

using data received from NUWC’s office supply vendor. 

agencies will be required to report on their purchases of biobased products once 

those products are designated by USDA. These data will assist in the government’s annual review and monitoring of the buy recycled and buy bio efforts. 

The ability to generate reports that include line item (Level-3) detail on 

purchases of specific kinds of products will be essential to agency compliance 

with these enhanced reporting requirements. See Section 4.2, Transaction 

Data, for a complete description of procurement item details for Level-1, 

Level-2 and Level-3 data. 

Some agencies have found that having a BPA for office supplies simplifies 

the generation of reports of purchases of specific kinds of products since 

vendors can track and report on all purchases made through the pre-negotiated contract vehicle. An e-catalog makes it easy for vendors to generate line 

item detail (Level-3) reports on specific kinds of products purchased online, 

such as detailed reports on an agency’s green purchases. For example, John 

Hix, Intramart Manager at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center notes that he 

is able to monitor purchases of recycled content products using data received 

from NUWC’s office supply vendor. It is important for management and staff 

to understand the potential to use these data to identify opportunities for 

increasing green purchasing. 

Improve Agency Environmental Performance and Meet Agency Goals 

Many government agencies have established green purchasing programs and 

green purchasing goals as part of new or enhanced programs targeting sustainability, environmental stewardship and EMS. Individually, and in combination, these internal requirements create opportunities to add environmental 

attributes to product performance, availability and cost as key factors in government office supply purchasing decisions. 

Representative Federal Agency-Specific E-Catalogs 

While many of the federal government’s office supplies are purchased through 

GSA Advantage or directly from major office product company commercial 

e-catalogs or brick and mortar stores, the charts which follow summarize the 

findings from EPA’s research with representatives of federal agencies known 

to be purchasing office supplies through agency-specific e-catalogs, either at 

one facility or nationwide. Some of these agency-specific e-catalogs offer 

office products that meet green criteria, as established by that agency, for 

specific product categories. Most have focused on ensuring that the office 

products they buy meet EPA’s CPG recycled content levels. 

26For further information on these reporting requirements, visit <http://www.ofee.gov/gp/ 

RCRA_Report_2003.pdf> 

INTRODUCTION  9 
Chart 1: Representative Federal Agency-Specific Green Office Product E-Catalo

T

Genawarsystetions custrecyBuyePurcholdin AfProcrestruse Greepurccomthe Card Greepurcinforwebquarand rem

Tracking/ 

Reporting 

Vendor reports by CPG product category and quantity purchased Vendor reports “green” purchases as percentage of total purchases 

All purchases via Purchase Card and the reasons for any inability to purchase CPG items are tracked and reported electronically in the software system 

Database tracks each purchase. Data reviewed quarterly to determine total recycled content purchases and recycled as percentage of total purchases 

Restrictions 

More than 2,500 products default to a CPGcompliant, recycled-content option Only the CPGcompliant recycled content product is available through the e-catalog Green products are promoted on vendor websites, PNNL offers Green Guide to Purchasing, and staff are trained on need to purchase green products Only the CPGcompliant recycled content product is available through the e-catalog 

Attributes 

Recycled content Recycled content Remanufactured Biobased, Energy/Water Efficient, recycled content Recycled content Remanufactured 

Green 

Standard 

CPG CPG Farm Security Act 9002-EO13134 RCRA 6002-EO13101 Energy ActEO13123 CPG 

Voluntary/ 

Mandatory 

Mandatory Mandatory Voluntary Voluntary 

Primary 

Office 

Supply 

Vendor(s) 

Office Depot Corporate Express 

Bangs Office Products Mower Business Systems (toner cartridges) Unisource (paper products) 

Guy Brown (local supplier for Boise Office Solutions) and Pacific Office Solutions (local supplier for Corporate Express) Boise Office Products Document Solutions (toner cartridges) Sandia Paper (paper products) 

Vehicle 

BPAs with multiple vendors BPAs with multiple vendors BPAs (Master Agreements) with multiple vendors BPAs with multiple vendors 

Facility 

Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) 

Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) 

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) 

Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) 

Agency 

DOD 

DOE 

10 

 

BUYING 

GREEN ONLINE 
Chart 1: Representative Federal Agency-Specific Green Office Product E-Catalogs (co

T

Onliwill for aPurcholdPurcholdinclupurcOnly buyesystetrainand AdeveProcOffica list prodguidweb

Tracking/ 

Reporting 

Vendor reports quarterly on purchases of products that meet EPP specifications, including CPG 

Vendor reports total purchases and total compliant purchases by CPG product category Vendor required to report total purchases and total CPGcompliant purchases 

Restrictions 

Only the green product is available through the e-catalog, where feasible. Emphasis on green products manufactured by JWOD and/or small businesses Employees must file waiver request to justify purchase of products that are not CPGcompliant Environmental Policy specifies use of a waiver for noncompliant purchases 

Attributes 

See Appendix A 

Recycled content Recycled content 

Green 

Standard 

Multiple standards: CPG, EPA Paper Policy, Green Seal Choose Green Report: Office Supplies, others 

CPG CPG 

Voluntary/ 

Mandatory 

Mandatory Mandatory Voluntary 

Primary 

Office 

Supply 

Vendor(s) 

Corporate Express 

Boise Office Products 

Boise Office Products 

Vehicle 

BPA with a single vendor BPA with a single vendor BPA with a single vendor 

Facility 

Agencywide 

Kennedy Space Center (KSC) 

Langley Research Center 

Agency 

EPA NASA NASA 

INTRODUCTION 

 11
Trause offetimmoTraicomweb10 pare usetraiIncltraiPurissuBurPurManencto usystStafprorule

Tracking/ 

Reporting 

Online system populates a log for each user with Level-3 data. A separate NIH tracking system tracks by category and dollars spent Can run a report on purchases by project or commodity class. Boise tracks all orders and reports on dollars spent in each commodity category by Bureau. Use metrics to negotiate with Boise and to compare Bureau performance and progress toward goals. In two years, use of the ecatalog has grown from $100,000 in the first quarter to $2 million per quarter Pilot tracking program being tested at 12 AF bases 

Restrictions 

To the extent that participating vendors offer their products, mandatory sources come up first and are marked with a flashing green light Must obtain permission and complete a justification to make purchases outside the e-catalog Block purchase of commercial items that are “essentially the same” as JWOD item. Vendor’s electronic matching process automatically substitutes the JWOD item and notifies customer. Each bureau has goals to increase purchases from JWOD and small businesses Encourage access to JWOD and small business sources. 

Use is 

Voluntary/ 

Mandatory 

Voluntary 

Voluntary Voluntary 

Voluntary at this time, but a switch to mandatory purchasing of all office 

supplies online is being considered for 2004 

Primary 

Vendor(s) 

All major vendors of products used by NIH, including office supplies Faison Office Products Boise Cascade Air Force Advantage (GSA) DOD Emall and four NIB organizations 

Vehicle 

NIH Intra-Mall BPA with single vendor BPA with single vendor BPAs with multiple vendors 

Facility 

13 of 26 Institutes Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site Agency-wide Air Force Materiel Command 

Agency 

National Institutes of Health (NIH) DOE USDA DOD 

Chart 2: Representative Federal Agency and Quasi Federal Agency Online Office Supply 

12 

 

BUYING 

GREEN ONLINE 
Thras pfor CarIn-hpurfor useprotraie-cator 

trai

Onthe USPSyst

Tracking/ 

Reporting 

Individual customers record their purchases in the system. Can run a report by commodity or project. 

Vendor reporting capability is a requirement of the contract. Capable of tracking by item number. Vendor reports JWOD purchases as cent of total expenditures 

USPS eBuy System incorporates 20 different vendor catalogues. Can run a report by small business purchases, recycled content purchases, specific products etc. 

Restrictions 

Default to JWOD products is built into the system. 

JWOD items are marked in each online catalogue. 

Default to JWOD products built into system 

Default to JWOD products is built into the system 

Default to JWOD products built into system 

Use is 

Voluntary/ 

Mandatory 

Voluntary 

Voluntary 

Voluntary 

Voluntary 

Mandatory 

Primary 

Vendor(s) 

Boise Cascade Boise Cascade George W. Allen Corporate Express 

Corporate Express Office Depot Boise Cascade 

Vehicle 

BPA with single vendor 

BPAs with multiple vendors Contract with single vendor BPAs with multiple vendors 

Modified Requirements Contract with single vendor 

Facility 

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 

Agency-wide 

Comptroller of the Currency 

Internal Revenue Service 

Nationwide 

Agency 

DOE 

Smithsonian Institution Treasury Treasury 

U.S. Postal Service 

Chart 2: Representative Federal Agency and Quasi Federal Agency Online Office Supply Syste

per

INTRODUCTION 

 13

SECTION 2 ESTABLISHING A GREEN OFFICE SUPPLY CONTRACT 

Federal agencies have found that green contracting language can easily be 

incorporated into an RFP (see example green criteria and contracting 

language in Appendices A and B). Some vendors already have 

experience offering access to green products via an agency-specific e-catalog 

through their work with the agencies featured in this report. Vendors are 

prepared to work with federal agencies to establish a green office supply BPA 

accessed via an agency-specific e-catalog that encourages and supports green 

purchasing. Through the contracting process, each agency can incorporate 

green criteria for the appropriate office products into a Request for Proposals 

(RFP) and evaluate potential office supply vendors on the basis of their 

ability to provide products that meet price and performance standards, as well 

as these environmental criteria. Our research has demonstrated that the 

following contracting considerations helped the agencies interviewed for this 

report develop green office supply contracts that are successfully serving the 

needs and goals of each agency’s purchasing culture. 

Agency Working Group 

The agencies interviewed for this report established contracts that resulted in 

agency-specific e-catalogs that meet the needs of all of their staff. This was 

accomplished by encouraging input from agency staff representing a wide 

range of diverse viewpoints. Each organization selected staff from 

appropriate organizations to participate in designing the BPA, based on the 

agency’s mission and agency procurement goals and targets. For example, 

within an organization, representatives of Environmental, Purchase Card, 

Procurement, Contracting, Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, 

(OSDBU) and Information Technology staff may work together to develop 

the criteria for the most effective mechanism to support e-procurement of 

green office supplies for that organization. 

Considerations for Multiple BPAs vs. a Single BPA 

EPA has selected a BPA with a single, nation-wide vendor for its office supply

purchases. EPA anticipates that overall contract management, including

tracking of purchases and updates

to the offerings on the system, will

be more cost- and time-efficient

with a single BPA. EPA also is

hoping to get the largest group discount possible for the office supplies

they purchase by buying them through a single vendor. A potential

disadvantage of a single BPA, however, is reliance on the resources of a single

vendor for access to products.

Other organizations, such as DOE’s Sandia Labs and DOD’s Naval 

Undersea Warfare Center, have established agency-specific e-catalogs for office 

supplies backed by a series of BPAs with both local and national vendors. 

EPA anticipates that overall contract management, 

including tracking of purchases and updates to the 

offerings on the system, will be more cost- and timeefficient with a single BPA. 

ESTABLISHING A GREEN OFFICE SUPPLY CONTRACT  15 
Each of the contracted vendors provides a specific product or group of products, and contractual arrangements ensure that vendors provide only those 

products that meet the agency’s environmental criteria. The system is 

invisible to the customer who purchases through one agency-specific e-catalog 

that provides access to all available products. 

NUWC established The Intramart 

The Department of Energy’s Sandia National Labora­ to manage facility e-procurement. The

tories (SNL) in New Mexico established separate BPAs for 

printer toner cartridges, office paper, office supplies and 

janitorial paper products because they already had established positive relationships with local vendors of green 

paper products and remanufactured toner cartridges and 

wanted to maintain those relationships. SNL staff purchases from these contracts via a federally-owned, agencyspecific e-catalog where employees select among only those 

products that meet SNL’s green criteria. 

office supplies section of the Intramart is based on BPAs with Office 

Depot and Corporate Express. 

Customers select products from 

commercially owned, agency specific 

e-catalogs offering more than 20,000 

items, of which more than 4,000 are 

recycled content products. Use of the 

Intramart is mandatory; NUWC staff 

is not permitted to purchase office 

supplies from other sources. Purchases are limited to individual orders of less 

than $2,500 and the BPAs clearly state that the seller “shall not honor orders 

exceeding this limitation.” 

One Purchase Card is embedded into the e-procurement system and all 

NUWC purchases are recorded onto this single Purchase Card. When placing 

an online order, the individual customer enters a job order number, which 

coincides with the procuring organization’s account. Both Office Depot and 

Corporate Express provide monthly reports on purchases. One staff person 

reconciles the vendor reports with the Purchase Card invoice. JIT delivery 

requirements ensure desktop delivery of office supplies within 24 hours, 

which enabled NUWC to eliminate costly warehousing of office products. 

At the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) in 

New Mexico, purchasing staff worked hand-in-hand with the environmental 

program to establish separate, sole source, JIT BPAs for printer toner 

cartridges, office paper, office supplies and janitorial paper products (toilet 

paper, tissues, paper towels etc.). Office paper, janitorial paper products, and 

toner cartridge vendors are separate local small businesses; the office supply 

contract is with a national vendor, Boise Cascade. SNL staff decided to adopt 

multiple local BPAs because they already had established positive relationships with local vendors of green paper products and remanufactured toner 

cartridges and wanted to maintain those relationships. In addition, SNL 

requires delivery only to Albuquerque, NM locations. Direct local purchase 

reduces overhead and transportation costs and the environmental impacts of 

moving goods over long distances. 

SNL staff purchases from these contracts via a federally-owned, agencyspecific e-catalog where employees select among only those products that 

meet SNL’s green criteria. A staff pollution prevention specialist identified 

green products and developed purchasing specifications that were incorporated into the bid documents and the final contracts. The contract mechanisms are invisible to the customers. The customer simply chooses from among 

the products offered, enters a Purchase Card or project charge number and 

sends an electronic order directly to the appropriate vendor. Although use of 

16  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
the e-catalog is voluntary, ease of use makes the e-catalog the most popular 

purchasing mechanism for SNL staff. 

SNL owns its e-catalog and, thus, manages the purchase data from 

multiple vendors. Some agencies may find it more challenging to compile and 

manage all office supply purchase data when the information comes from 

several sources. However, SNL is pleased that they have significantly 

increased their purchases from small (8A), local businesses through their 

agency-specific e-catalog.

27 

Considerations for the Source Selection Process 

Price, performance, availability, and JIT delivery are common procurement 

standards. In addition, EPA and other federal facilities have created agencyappropriate specifications for green office products for inclusion in their 

Request For Proposals (RFP). Vendor selection requirements may include 

green criteria for the products in the e-catalog, vendor environmental 

performance and vendor ability to meet tracking and reporting requirements. 

For example, EPA’s RFP for a green online ordering system, issued on 

October 24, 2003 (see Appendix B), 

incorporates the existing Federal 

requirements (e.g., CPG and EPP)

pertaining to green office supply

purchases. It also allows for changes

to be made as green purchasing

knowledge advances—for example,

adding biobased products after

USDA’s biobased products list becomes available. Other agencies have

Our contracts generally are awarded on a “best overall 

value” basis, not low net price. One of the best value 

criteria was the vendor’s ability to help us meet our green 

purchasing goals. 

J. Romero, Buyer, DOE/SNL 

requested that vendors provide evidence that they will: 

 offer access to an acceptable range of green products; 

 offer products that meet the agency’s green purchasing criteria; 

	 provide an acceptable level of detail concerning each product’s 

environmental attributes;28 

	 provide icons or other indicators in both paper and online catalogues 

to help staff identify and purchase environmentally preferable 

products; 

	 guarantee that the products offered meet price and performance 

considerations; and 

 continually add more green products to the system. 

SNL awards contracts on a “best overall value” basis, rather than net low 

price. One of their best value criteria was the vendor’s ability to assist SNL in 

meeting its green purchasing goals. Vendors are asked to provide the names of 

27Personal communication, Jimmy Romero, SNL, September, 2003. 

28EPA’s contracted office supply vendor requires its suppliers to self-certify that their 

products meet or exceed the agency's green specifications. 

ESTABLISHING A GREEN OFFICE SUPPLY CONTRACT  17 
clients who can speak to their past performance in meeting similar green 

requirements for other customers. 

In addition to establishing green requirements for the products that will 

be available in the e-catalog, agencies have included other green selection 

criteria including whether the vendor: 

 has trained key contract staff, including buyers, in green purchasing; 

	 can provide line item detail (Level-3) reports, including reports 

outlining CPG and EPP purchases; 

 purchases green products for their own use; 

 has an internal recycling program for appropriate materials; 

	 incorporates environmental considerations into contracts for 

janitorial services (e.g., less toxic cleaning products) and vehicle/fleet 

purchase and maintenance (e.g., use of alternative fueled and/or 

high MPG vehicles, re-refined or biobased oils, retread tires, aqueous 

degreasers etc.); 

	 has adopted an ISO 14001 or other Environmental Management 

System (EMS) or issued a corporate environmental policy; and 

	 participates in any Federal Agency voluntary environmental 

programs, such as ENERGY STAR®, WasteWise, Performance 

Track, or the SmartWay Transport program.29 

NUWC Intramart Manager, John Hix, noted that they queried each 

vendor’s willingness to partner with NUWC in establishing and managing the 

agency-specific e-catalog. NUWC also asked how the vendor would measure 

results, improve reporting and increase the availability of green products. 

NUWC also considered whether the vendor’s point of contact would be 

readily accessible. 

Considerations for Mandatory vs.Voluntary E-Catalog Use 

At most agencies interviewed for this report, management has supported 

establishing purchasing restrictions to ensure that the vendor contracted 

through their office supply BPA, accessed via the agency-specific e-catalog, is 

the preferred source of supply. Since the e-catalog generally is easy to use, 

reduces administrative requirements, offers preferred pricing and 

can provide access to products that 

comply with green purchasing 

standards, making use of the 

e-catalog mandatory has not been 

found to create a hardship for 

customers or procurement 

You will never be able to provide an accurate evaluation of 

how well you are doing in meeting your environmentally 

preferable purchasing goals if you are missing vital 

information from purchases not recorded or unknown 

purchases. 

J. Hix, Intramart Manager, NUWC 

29For more information on the ENERGY STAR® program visit <http://www.energystar.gov>; 

for WasteWise, visit <http://www.epa.gov/wastewise/>; for Performance Track, 

<http://www.epa.gov/performancetrack/>; for SmartWay, <http://www.epa.gov/otaq/ 

smartway/index.htm.> 

18  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
personnel. John Hix, the Intramart Manager at NUWC has found that 

requiring that purchases be made via the e-catalog supports efforts to gather 

valid data to better manage required programs. He notes that “you will never 

be able to provide an accurate evaluation of how well you are doing in 

meeting your green purchasing goals if you are missing vital information 

from purchases not recorded or unknown purchases.” Implementation of a 

mandatory e-catalog can reduce or eliminate the potential for loss of vital 

data if staff fails to document purchases and target increases in green 

purchasing. 

Some agencies where use of the agency-specific e-catalog is voluntary 

have found that a significant amount of additional staff time is needed to 

identify and track purchases made outside the system. In addition, these 

agencies have limited ability to ensure that staff obtains the lowest possible 

price or selects green products. Also, reduced purchase volume via the BPA 

may affect the agency’s leverage, in terms of system changes, prices etc., with 

the contracted vendor. 

Socio-Economic Considerations 

The federal government has established certain mandatory sources from 

which federal agencies must purchase products and services, if they are 

available. The Javits-Wagner-O’Day (JWOD) Program, for example, creates 

jobs and training opportunities for people who are blind or who have other 

severe disabilities. JWOD sells a variety of office products via their commercially owned e-catalog (<www.jwod.com>), and some agencies list JWOD 

products first in their agency-specific e-catalog, to encourage the purchase of 

these items. Some agencies block the purchase of products from other 

suppliers and automatically switch purchases to the item offered through a 

mandatory source of supply. 

Some purchasers have expressed 

concern that limiting purchases to 

green products might reduce the use 

of JWOD and other preferential 

purchasing programs, such as small, 

women-owned or minority-owned 

businesses. In fact, environmental 

considerations readily co-exist with 

Some purchasers have expressed concern that limiting 

purchases to green products might reduce the use of 

JWOD and other preferential purchasing programs, such 

as small, 

these other preference prog

women-owned or minority-owned businesses. In 

fact, environmental considerations readil

rams. 

y co-exist with 

these existing preference programs. Through agency specific e-catalogs, 

agencies have been able to improve tracking and monitoring of their dollars 

going to JWOD and/or small business vendors, and even increase these 

purchases while simultaneously meeting their green purchasing goals. One 

federal facility, PNNL, purchases office supplies from small, minority-owned 

(and, in one case, local) suppliers of products from national office supply 

companies. This allows PNNL to meet their small business purchasing goals, 

while providing staff with access to the large suite of products and low prices 

available from nationwide distributors. 

JWOD has worked hard to ensure that many of their office products meet 

the CPG recycled content standards. JWOD offers many common office supplies manufactured with recovered material, including: hanging file folders, 

clipboards, steno pads, pens, pencils, notebooks, binders, paper towels, napESTABLISHING A GREEN OFFICE SUPPLY CONTRACT  19 
kins, and other paper products. Like any business, JWOD responds to 

customer demand. The more federal agencies request green JWOD products, 

the more JWOD will work to incorporate environmental attributes into its 

products and to communicate that information to potential purchasers. If 

agencies establish BPAs that include JWOD products that meet their green 

criteria, JWOD purchases may even 

At Sandia Labs, all toner cartridges are purchased via a increase. Agencies can continue to

contract with a small, local business. The contract only 

allows the vendor to provide remanufactured toner 

cartridges that meet the agency’s green criteria. Those 

JWOD cartridges that do not meet these criteria are not 

available for purchase by Sandia staff. 

J. Romero, Buyer, DOE/SNL 

identify JWOD products as 

mandatory source items, meaning 

that customers must purchase those 

JWOD items that meet required 

green specifications. 

Some of the leading 

manufacturers of green products 

are small businesses. Some agencies 

have required office supply vendors to only sell green products made by small 

businesses for certain product categories via their agency specific e-catalogs. 

Others have created period of performance extension incentives for vendors to 

ensure that a certain percentage of dollars spent via their BPA goes to small 

business vendors selling green products. A potential resource for locating 

green small, women and minority-owned businesses is the Small Business 

Administration’s searchable Pro-Net database, which can be accessed at 

<http://pro net.sba.gov>. In addition, small businesses that manufacture 

CPG-compliant products are now indicated on the EPA’s CPG Supplier 

Database at <www.epa.gov/cpg>. 

20  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
SECTION 3 CHOOSING GREEN OFFICE PRODUCTS 

As we have noted, Environmentally Preferable Purchasing, or EPP, 

refers to the practice of buying products or services that have a lesser 

or reduced impact on the environment and human health, when 

compared with competing products or services that serve the same purpose.30 

The purchase of green office products can have a significant positive 

environmental impact. The table, below, demonstrates the annual benefits to 

EPA of shifting from virgin paper to paper with 30 percent post-consumer 

recycled content and the increased annual benefits associated with the shift to 

paper with at least 50 percent post-consumer content in October, 2001. 

Environmental Impacts of Increased Post-consumer 

Recycled Content in EPA Paper Purchases 

Change in percentage 

of recovered content 

in paper Trees Preserved* Energy Savings** 

Net Reduction in 

Atmospheric 

Emissions** 

Solid Waste 

Reduction** 

0 to 30% post-consumer 5,711 3,999,479,000 Btus 499,176 lbs. 257,393 lbs. 

30% to 50% postconsumer 11,348 7,946,859,000 Btus 991,850 lbs. 511,434 lbs. 

0 to 50% post-consumer 17,059 11,946,338,000 Btus 1,491,026 lbs. 768,828 lbs. 

* based on Conservatree calculations at <www.conservatree.com/learn/Enviro_Issues/Tree Stats/shtml> 

** from Paper Calculator at <www.ofee.gov/recycled/cal-index.htm> 

Green purchasing may be as simple as buying paper with recycled content 

or as complex as considering the environmental impacts of each product at 

each stage in its life cycle—from 

manufacturing through use to Green purchasing makes my job more exciting. I’m doing 

disposal. Office products are made more than just purchasing; I’m trying to help protect the 

from many materials—paper, environment. 

plastics, metals and a range of J. Romero, Buyer, DOE/SNL 

combinations and composites. As a 

result, the environmental impacts of 

the manufacture, use and disposal of office products are varied and complex. 

Agencies have taken a variety of approaches to buying green products. Some 

do the minimum to ensure that they meet the legal buy recycled requirements; others establish a broad range of green office supply specifications 

that emphasize the purchase of recycled content, less-toxic and less wasteful 

products. Each agency must determine its own green purchasing criteria. 

30For additional information on EPP visit <http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/epp/> 

CHOOSING GREEN OFFICE PRODUCTS  21 
Reliable Green Purchasing Criteria 

There are certain attributes that distinguish green office products from their 

alternatives. Green office products may be, for example, durable, recyclable, 

reusable, remanufactured, rechargeable, energy-efficient, and/or less toxic. 

Green office supplies may be 

manufactured with biobased or 

recycled content. Reduced 

EPA offers information, training and other resources on 

procurement of environmentally preferable products at 

<www.epa.gov/oppt/epp> packaging and recyclable packaging 

also are attributes of green office 

supplies. 

Green purchasing is a dynamic concept that, depending on the product 

category, will not necessarily be implemented in the same manner from 

agency to agency or even within one agency. But, there already are excellent 

green purchasing criteria established by federal, state and local government 

pioneers who have implemented pilot green procurement projects. Agencies 

have found that determining which environmental attributes to consider 

when making a purchasing decision depends on both federal requirements and 

the goals of their Green Purchasing Program. As the charts beginning on 

page 10 indicate, agency environmental staff assisted in establishing green 

purchasing criteria at DOE labs and NASA’s LaRC and KSC. See Appendix C 

for a list of federal agency environmental contacts. 

The following resources provide accurate, reliable information concerning 

green purchasing criteria currently used by federal agencies: 

EPA RFP 

EPA’s Request for Proposals (RFP) for an office products vendor, included as 

Appendix B to this report, provides reliable, up-to-date (as of October 2002) 

criteria for negotiating green purchasing standards for office supplies. EPA’s 

green purchasing criteria assure 

EPA’s Request for Proposals (RFP) for an office products that each product offered via the

vendor, included as Appendix B to this report, provides 

reliable, up-to-date (October 2002) criteria for negotiating 

green purchasing standards for an agency-specific ecatalog. 

agency-specific e-catalog complies 

with the requirements of RCRA 

Section 6002 and E.O. 13101. To 

ensure that their green purchasing 

criteria maximized information on 

products readily available for 

purchase in the U.S., these green purchasing standards are based on existing 

standards or guidelines established by U.S. organizations or government 

agencies. It is understood that these criteria will be updated as the marketplace expands, as new environmental attributes of concern arise, and/or when 

new standards/guidelines or other information become available. 

Agency personnel have begun to consider what will happen to a product 

at the end of its useful life, as part of the procurement process. They recognize the importance of determining whether a material is recyclable in an 

agency or community recycling program and whether there is a collection or 

drop-off program to ensure that it will be separated for recycling. Many 

organizations are aware of products that the manufacturer will take back for 

disassembly and reuse. For example, SNL purchases toner cartridges that 

have been diverted from disposal, remanufactured, and resold by their 

22  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
contracted vendor. The vendor also collects used cartridges for recycling from 

SNL. EPA has included toner cartridge collection and remanufacturing 

requirements in their green office supply BPA, as many office supply vendors 

have experience operating toner cartridge recovery and remanufacturing 

programs. 

Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG) Program 

The CPG Program is a reliable source of information on buying products 

manufactured with recycled content. RCRA requires EPA to consider a 

variety of criteria to determine which items it will designate in the CPG: 

availability, the potential impact on the solid waste stream, economic and 

technological feasibility of producing the item, and other uses of the recovered material. EPA also considers comments from end users, manufacturers and 

other interested parties. 

The CPG provides a recommended range of recycled content for paper, 

paper products and non-paper office supplies. While many agencies are 

purchasing copy paper with 30 percent post-consumer recycled content, it’s 

important to recognize that EPA has recommended recycled content levels for 

a variety of office papers, including writing tablets and envelopes. EPA also 

has recommended recycled content percentages for non-paper office products. 

Non-paper office products include items such as binders, clipboards, file 

folders, presentation folders, plastic desktop accessories, office waste and 

recycling receptacles, printer ribbons and toner cartridges. New products are 

added to the list frequently. To comply with RCRA Section 6002, 100 percent 

of an agency’s purchases of these products should meet or exceed the EPA 

guidelines. Additional information is available from the CPG website 

<www.epa.gov/cpg/products.htm>. To view a database of product brands 

that meet the CPG recycled content guidelines go to <www.ergweb2.com/cpg/ 

user/cpg_search.cfm>. 

Green Seal Choose Green Report: Office Supplies 

The independent, non-profit certification organization Green Seal 

has issued the Choose Green Report: Office Supplies, which is 

available online at <www.greenseal.org/cgrs>. The report 

addresses 11 product categories including: binders, clipboards, 

highlighters, markers and correction fluid, envelopes, file folders, 

index cards, labels, pens and pencils, presentation transparencies, 

self-stick notes, and toner cartridges. The Office Supplies report 

includes life cycle criteria; a listing of recommended products that 

meet these criteria, by brand and manufacturer; and sources 

where the environmentally preferable product is available. EPA 

has incorporated the Green Seal recommendations into its RFP. 

Green Seal recommendations for recycled content meet or exceed 

the CPG, and Green Seal also considers other environmental 

attributes, including durability and toxicity. 

Exposure to toxics can cause minor health problems, such as 

headaches or nausea, or can lead to long-term problems. There 

may be economic impacts for an organization when workers are 

absent due to illness or when chronic health problems affect their 

CHOOSING GREEN OFFICE PRODUCTS  23 
daily performance. It’s hard to imagine that common office products contain 

hazardous chemicals, but some do. Certain markers use aromatic solvents, for 

example, while others are water based. Some agencies have specified solventfree markers, highlighters and 

The average compact fluorescent bulb lasts 8 to 10 times correction fluid as well as PVC-free

longer than any incandescent bulb. 

Green Seal Choose Green Report: 

Compact Fluorescent Lighting 

<www.greenseal.org/cgrs> 

binders and chlorine-free paper and 

paper products. 

Use of more durable products 

reduces the quantity of waste and 

the environmental impacts of 

disposal in incinerators and 

landfills. Procurement staff recognize the importance of reusable, refillable, 

rechargeable, remanufactured or otherwise more durable products and often 

compare warranties for office equipment to determine which products will 

provide the best service. The purchase of a product with a higher initial 

purchase price, such as rechargeable batteries or low-mercury compact 

fluorescent lamps, may be justified through a comparison of life cycle costs. 

Additional durable products include refillable pens, erasable wall calendars 

and reusable shipping containers. 

USDA 

As noted earlier, USDA will designate biobased products and provide guidance 

for purchasing products with biobased content in categories which may 

include: adhesives, construction materials and composites, fibers, paper, and 

packaging, fuels and fuel additives, inks, landscaping materials and 

composted livestock and crop residue, lubricants and functional fluids, paints 

and coatings, plastics (monomers and polymers), solvents and cleaners and 

sorbents. 

Many Federal agencies already purchase and use biobased products including biobased food service items, biodiesel, ethanol, cleaning products, and 

compost “tea” for golf courses. For additional information visit 

<www.ars.usda.gov/bbcc> or <www.ofee.gov>. 

ENERGY STAR® 

Under E.O. 13123 and 13221, those agencies that incorporate electronic equipment in their e-catalogs also should include energy efficiency in their green 

purchasing criteria, in particular, energy-efficient standby power devices. 

ENERGY STAR® is a voluntary partnership between EPA and the 

Department of Energy (DOE). More than 35 product categories qualify for 

the ENERGY STAR® label, indicating that they use less energy and reduce 

both energy costs and environmental impacts. Consider EPA’s ENERGY 

STAR® criteria and specifications for energy efficient office products such as 

copiers, printers, fax machines, and other electrical equipment. Product 

procurement information is available at <www.energystar.gov>. Information 

on products with low standby power is available from the Federal Energy 

Management Program (FEMP) at <http://www.eere.energy.gov/femp/ 

procurement/standby_power.html>. 

24  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
Other green purchasing resources such as case studies are available at 

<www.epa.gov/oppt/epp>. EPA’s Database of Environmental Information for 

Products and Services <www.epa.gov/oppt/epp/database.htm> is a searchable 

database of product-specific environmental standards and guidelines, as well 

as a vendor list of products that meet these standards. The database also 

provides links to contract language and specifications from a variety of government sources. 

Price of Green Products 

Prices of green products vary depending on the volume of the purchases and

the purchaser’s location but, overall, the purchase and use of green office

supply products offers positive

financial incentives for most federal

agencies. Indeed, there may be

measurable cost reductions 

associated with the purchase of 

certain green office supplies. 

For example, in 2002, King 

County, WA purchased 4,380 remanufactured toner cartridges for laser 

In 2002, King County, WA purchased 4,380 remanufactured toner cartridges for laser printers. These purchases 

saved the County $280,000, as the cost of the remanufactured toner cartridges is approximately one-third the 

cost of the new cartridges they previously purchased. 

Karen Hamilton, King County 

printers at a cost of approximately $140,000. The remanufactured cartridges 

meet original equipment manufacturer’s (OEM) standards and provide full 

performance guarantees. These purchases saved the County $280,000, as the 

cost of the remanufactured toner cartridges was approximately one-third the 

cost of the new cartridges they previously purchased.31 

DOE’s SNL, in calendar year 2002, saved approximately $154,000 by 

purchasing remanufactured toner cartridges from a small, local supplier. The 

cost savings was calculated based on SNL’s negotiated rate for virgin toner 

cartridges.32 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has found that, depending on the 

model, the purchase of a remanufactured printer toner cartridge can save as 

much as 60 percent over the cost of a new cartridge.33 The Massachusetts Buy 

Recycled Business Alliance notes that the cost of an original equipment 

cartridge for an HP Laser Jet 4 is $145 while the cost of the remanufactured 

option is between $65 and $80. Additional cost savings arise through the 

avoided disposal costs associated with recovering and reusing the toner 

cartridges. 

The common perception is that recycled copy paper costs significantly 

more than comparable virgin paper. However, EPA purchases processed 

chlorine free paper with a minimum of 50 percent post-consumer recycled 

content at per carton prices comparable to those of virgin paper. John Hix at 

NUWC notes that he has been able to keep the price of recycled paper close 

31Personal communication, Karen Hamilton, Environmental Purchasing Program, King 

Country Procurement & Contract Services, December 26, 2002. 

32Personal communication, Stacy Richardson, SNL, September, 2003. 

33Recycled Product Fact Sheet #3. Massachusetts Operational Services Division, February, 

1999. 

CHOOSING GREEN OFFICE PRODUCTS  25 
to the price of virgin paper for six years.34 The actual costs for the purchase of 

recycled copy paper manufactured with 30 percent or higher post-consumer 

content are determined by each agency or facility’s supply and delivery 

requirements. In cases where the green product is more expensive, agencies 

may be able to bring the cost down through volume purchases via an agencyspecific e-catalog. In addition, as demand for green products increases, the 

prices for these products are likely to decrease. 

Products that are reusable, more durable, or repairable may have a higher 

initial purchase price, yet the cost of these products over their useful life may 

be significantly less than disposable or single-use alternatives. Depending on 

the initial cost of a bulb, for example, the Federal Trade Commission 

estimates that it costs $2.60 less per year to power a compact fluorescent bulb 

than an incandescent bulb.

35 The purchase and use of less toxic products may 

reduce costs by minimizing potential health impacts and lost worker 

productivity. 

Performance of Green Products 

Many government agencies still remember the first recycled paper products 

introduced in the late 1980s. The paper was a darker color and did not perform very well in printers and copiers. Some agencies also had negative 

experiences with the first 

EPA Region 3 uses copy paper with 100 percent post- remanufactured toner cartridges.

consumer recycled content and has had no problems with 

this paper in printers or copiers. 

However, green products have come 

a long way since the initial 

introduction of recycled products. 

Today, the U.S. Government 

Printing Office (GPO) maintains a list of qualified high-speed recycled copy 

papers that meet stringent specifications including: a minimum of 30 percent 

post-consumer recycled fiber, being free of lint and fuzz, and having not more 

than one paper-caused jam per 5,000 continuous copies. 

EPA Region 3 uses copy paper with 100 percent post-consumer recycled 

content and has had no problems with this paper in printers or copiers. The 

State of North Carolina’s Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance reports that, in blind tests, 100 percent post-consumer 

recycled content paper actually performed better in copiers and printers than 

paper with 30 percent post-consumer recycled content.36 

The six federal agencies (DOD, DOE, GSA, NASA, VA and DOT) that 

were required to report on their purchases of recycled products indicated that 

34 percent of toner cartridge purchases specified a remanufactured cartridge. 

According to Karen Dickerson, Computer Specialist with EPA, “the 

remanufactured toner cartridges we purchase are nationally rated for print 

quality and offer performance above and beyond many other companies. If 

you get a bad cartridge, the company replaces it free of charge. In the four 

34Personal communication, John Hix, NUWC, June, 2003. 

35Green Seal Choose Green Report: Compact Fluorescent Lighting, p. 1 <www.greenseal.org>. 

36Personal communication, M. Giuranna, EPA Region 3 

26  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
years that I have been buying cartridges, I have had four defective cartridges 

(which is one a year).” Staff at New York City’s Department of Citywide 

Administrative Services found that remanufactured toner cartridges they 

tested actually printed a higher number of quality pages than their OEM 

counterparts.37 

Many agencies have involved staff in product testing before making a 

commitment to a green product. Kristin Poultney of SAIC, the Environmental Contract Manager at NASA LaRC, found that product testing helped 

to break down a lot of barriers with people who thought recycled products 

were inferior. “It’s difficult to get people to change from a familiar product to 

something new; it’s easier to show them—to buy the product and let them try 

it. We had blind product testing with evaluation criteria and forms to fill out 

and they couldn’t tell the difference between the virgin product and the 

recycled product.” 

Purchasing Restrictions 

Many organizations restrict 

purchases to those that meet their 

environmental criteria (See Charts, 

pages 10–13). John Hix reports that 

at NUWC the system shows all 

available products. If you try to 

purchase an item that has a green 

At NUWC, the system shows you all of the available 

products. However, if you try to purchase an item that 

has a green substitute, the system notifies you that the 

product is restricted and directs you to the green 

alternative. 

J. Hix, Intramart Administrator, NUWC 

substitute, the system notifies you that you are trying to purchase a restricted product and directs you to the green alternative. 

At DOE’s SNL, the vendor contracts are limited to green products. Buyer 

James Romero notes, “We have control over what is and isn’t entered on our 

supplier’s catalogs. Thus, each supplier customizes their on-line catalog for 

Sandia. In the case of office products, the vendor is instructed not to include 

certain blocked items in their catalog.” 

Sandra Cannon of DOE’s Pacific 

Northwest National Laboratory 

stated: “We did not restrict the online system to only the CPG products, which means that staff can 

choose a virgin instead of a recycled 

product. Some federal organizations 

have made that restriction and their 

life is much easier.” 

We did not restrict the online system to only the CPG 

products, which means that staff can choose a virgin 

instead of a recycled product. Some federal organizations 

have made that restriction and their life is much easier. 

Sandra Cannon 

DOE, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 

At NASA Langley Research Center, Kristin Poultney, SAIC, Environmental Contract Manager, noted, “If someone tries to buy the virgin product, 

it automatically goes to the product with recycled content. The purchaser has 

no idea that the block is in place.” 

Decisions about how much information to provide to customers may be 

driven by the agency’s mission. EPA, for example, has elected to market to 

EPA purchasers the fact that EPA’s agency-specific e-catalog will offer only a 

green product in those product categories for which green products are 

37Memo from Carol Green, DCAS, 1999. 

CHOOSING GREEN OFFICE PRODUCTS  27 
available. Other agencies have taken the opposite approach and give purchasers no indication of the environmental attributes of the products on their 

system, although only green products are offered. DOE’s SNL staff is 

concerned that purchasers who are 

We don’t market that this is a way to buy green products. aware that they are buying green

As long as it works for them, as long as it meets their 

quality standard, they don’t care whether it’s recycled or 

not. 

J. Romero, Buyer, DOE/SNL 

will focus on product performance 

flaws. Buyer James Romero points 

out: “People don’t even realize, as 

much as possible, that we’ve 

converted to recycled [products]. All 

they see is this is the product, these 

are the colors you can pick, this is the price, enter your project and task 

number and it will arrive on your desk in three days. We don’t market that 

this is a way to buy green products. As long as it works for them, as long as it 

meets their quality standard, they don’t care whether it’s recycled or not.” 

28  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
SECTION 4 MONITORING GREEN PURCHASES 

The agencies interviewed for this report have given careful attention to 

the reporting capabilities of their contracted office supply vendor or 

vendors to ensure that they receive a range of data on what the organization purchases, who makes those purchases, and the dollar value of green 

purchases as a subset of overall office supply purchases and procurement 

expenditures. These data allow agencies to comply with the federal government reporting requirements discussed earlier in this report. 

In addition, agencies may 

require that their individual 

facilities and installations comply 

with internal reporting requirements 

as part of the agency Affirmative 

Procurement (AP) Program or to meet EMS objectives and targets. Beyond 

these requirements, monitoring the office product purchases made by agency 

customers can identify opportunities to assist customers with green 

purchasing, as well as opportunities to improve an agency’s e-catalog offerings 

to ensure that the e-catalog meets customer needs. 

As of FY 2004, all federal agencies must report on 

purchases of recycled content products. The 2002 Farm 

Bill mandates reporting on biobased purchases as well. 

Tracking Green Purchases 

Through the contracting process, agencies define those attributes, such as

purchases of recycled content or less toxic products, for which reporting data

will be required and determine the kinds of data needed to meet external and

internal reporting and other requirements. Office supply vendors are able to

provide data on both the dollar value and the quantity of purchases of, for

example, products that meet CPG requirements, or products that go beyond

CPG requirements, such as 100

percent recycled content, processed

chlorine free paper. As discussed

previously, vendors also can provide

data to track socio-economic

requirements including purchases

from specific suppliers, such as small

businesses or JWOD. To evaluate the

effectiveness of your green purchasing program, it’s important to have the

capability of tracking purchases of individual products, such as copier paper,

as well as broader categories, such as overall purchases of paper and paper

products manufactured with recycled content.

Through the Intramart, Office Depot and Corporate 

Express provide data on total purchases of printing and 

writing paper and the percentage of those purchases that 

met the CPG guideline of 30 percent post-consumer 

recycled content, by procuring office or organization. 

J. Hix, Intramart Manager, NUWC 

Some organizations have found it useful to associate each specific green 

purchase with the various organizational levels in which the purchase was 

made (e.g., shop, group, installation, and agency). SNL tracks purchases by 

project, while NUWC data is organized by the procuring organization. This 

allows procurement and environmental staff to identify and recognize those 

organizations that have an exemplary green purchasing program, as well as 

those that may need assistance in implementing or improving green 

purchasing. 

MONITORING GREEN PURCHASES  29 
Transaction Data 

Vendors who accept Purchase Cards can provide different levels of data for 

transactions. Level-1 includes only basic information such as the date, total 

amount of the purchase and the vendor’s name. Level-2 adds items such as 

shipping charges, tax and purchase order number. Level-3 refers to line item 

data which includes detailed specific purchase information, such as an item 

description, quantity, unit-of-measure, per unit price, and sales tax, combined 

with merchant information. Level-3 data provides significantly more information about each purchase than a standard Purchase Card statement. 

Generally, vendors provide only Level-1 or at most Level-2 data. Some office 

supply vendors are able to provide Level-3 data for purchases made via an 

agency office supply BPA. 

For tracking and reporting purposes, the agencies interviewed for this 

report collect Level-3 data for their office product purchases from the 

contracted vendor. This includes information about the specific products 

purchased (item name, manufacturer, quantity, per item cost) as well as the 

green attributes of those products. If staff uses only the agency-specific ecatalog for office supply purchases, the agency is able to use vendor supplied 

data to track and report on all purchases. 

If staff makes purchases from a variety of vendors outside the office 

supply BPA, it is not always possible to obtain Level-3 data for those 

purchases. In some cases, an agency 

“We went to the trouble of setting up these green uses account numbers for tracking

contracts and our vendors expect a certain level of 

business from us . . .People should be reluctant to use their 

Purchase Cards to make purchases outside the system 

when they’ve gotten so spoiled with our e-catalog.” 

Jimmy Romero, SNL 

purchases via the e-catalog, but also 

allows individual customers to 

purchase office supplies from brick 

and mortar stores or other sources, 

using a Purchase Card. These external 

purchases may create costly tracking 

and monitoring challenges. For 

example, DOE’s SNL tracks e-catalog purchases via project numbers. Buyer 

James Romero notes that Purchase Cards provide a mechanism for 

individuals to make purchases from vendors that do not have BPAs with 

SNL. He notes, “we went to the trouble of setting up these green contracts 

and our vendors expect a certain level of business from us. I’m positive that 

the majority of our purchasers use the e-catalog; it works really well for us. 

People should be reluctant to use their Purchase Cards to make purchases 

outside the system when they’ve gotten so spoiled with our e-catalog.” 

At DOE’s INEEL the customer is required to complete an electronic 

receipt for each purchase made outside of the e-catalog and to indicate 

whether the item purchased met the lab’s environmental criteria. These 

electronic receipts must be verified by procurement staff to document that all 

purchases meet government guidelines. A significant outlay of staff time is 

required to confirm that staff followed the INEEL purchasing guidelines. 

Vendor Role in Tracking and Monitoring 

Perhaps the easiest and most accurate method of tracking green purchases is 

monitoring actual orders using data provided by the contracted office product 

30  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
vendor. As we have noted, the major office supply vendors are familiar with 

tracking and monitoring requirements and experienced in providing a wealth 

of detailed information regarding office product purchases. Once particular 

products have been tagged as green products, there are seemingly limitless 

possibilities as to what can be tracked. This can include aggregating and 

reporting green purchases at various organizational levels over various time 

intervals (e.g., monthly, quarterly, or annually). With e-catalog data, it also is 

possible for an agency to track and report on green purchases as a component 

of overall purchases within a particular product category, and to generate 

reports showing the volume of purchases of CPG compliant, biobased or 

otherwise green products. It is even possible to identify opportunities for 

additional green purchasing. 

Tracking can best be accomplished using detailed information on individual purchases, provided by the contracted office product vendor, based on 

purchases via an agency-specific e-catalog. The issuing bank can provide a 

consolidated record of purchases made with Purchase Cards, but these 

records currently provide only the dollar amount spent with a particular 

vendor. If your organization has 

thousands of Purchase Cards in use, 

the process of verifying all 

purchases and confirming 

compliance with green purchasing 

requirements creates an 

administrative burden. It’s 

The State of California’s office supply contract requires 

the vendor to prepare a report on the quantity and dollar 

amount of green purchases for any office, on demand. 

R. Riola, Lead Buyer, State of California 

important to note that if your organization still uses charge accounts to pay 

for office supply purchases, the same approach to tracking by either product 

name or key terms can be used. NASA currently is implementing an agencywide financial software system that will integrate with Purchase Card 

Solutions software to track Purchase Card use. According to Kim Dalgleish, 

former NASA Agency Credit Card Manager, staff are investigating 

approaches to ensuring that green purchases are monitored within the new 

system. 

Agencies have found that their office supply vendor is the most critical 

player in efforts to monitor green purchases. By establishing tracking and 

reporting requirements as part of the vendor contract, the office supply 

ordering system should be able to deliver the data to meet all monitoring and 

reporting needs. The key to success is up-front planning. It includes working 

with the vendor to ensure their understanding concerning products you want 

tracked, what information you want regarding individual purchases, and how 

you want this information aggregated and reported. 

MONITORING GREEN PURCHASES  31 

SECTION 5 ENHANCING GREEN PURCHASING 

Agencies have found it useful to work with the vendor as well as purchasers and Purchase Card holders to ensure that everyone agrees on 

the organization’s green purchasing requirements, objectives and 

expectations. Through the contracting process, each agency can decide

whether and how to ensure that the office supply vendor(s) identify the green

office products that are available

and block the purchase of nongreen products when green substitutes are available. A key provision

is the requirement that the vendor

identify and test new green products

so that they can be added to the 

e-procurement system. EPA created a period of performance extension

incentive to encourage their office supply vendor to continue to seek out new

products that meet the EPA green purchasing criteria and make them

available for purchase through the contract.

EPA created a period of performance extension incentive 

to encourage their office supply vendor to continue to seek 

contract. 

out new products that meet EPA’s Green purchasing 

criteria and make them available for purchase through the 

The key to a successful green purchasing program is cooperation. The 

agencies participating in the development of this report recognize outreach to 

the organization and staff training as key to continuous improvement in 

green office supply e-procurement. Each agency’s environmental staff is 

familiar with green products and can be instrumental in continual improvement and expansion of the green office products offerings through the BPA 

and via an agency-specific e-catalog (See Appendix C for Agency contacts). 

Procurement and contracting staff manage the tools that make green purchasing possible. Green purchasing requires buyers and other procurement 

staff to add detailed knowledge about the environmental impacts of products, materials and services to their proficiency in standard purchasing 

evaluation criteria like price and performance. 

Employee Training 

If purchases are limited to the BPA, which offers only those office products

that meet all environmental criteria, staff may not require specific training to

allow them to select the green products. However, if agency staff

selects among a wide range of products from a variety of vendors, and

only some of the products offered

are green (both recycled content and

virgin paper products are available,

for example), then all customers

should be made aware of their

At Sandia National Labs, Purchase Card holders must 

attend a mandatory two-hour training session. The 

training includes information on what they cannot buy as 

well as a detailed presentation about green products and 

why they have to buy certain items with recycled content. 

S. Richardson, P2 Coordinator, DOE/SNL 

responsibilities under RCRA Section 6002 and E.O. 13101. 

Some examples of federal agency training in green purchasing include: 

ENHANCING GREEN PURCHASING  33 
	 The National Park Service, Pacific Region has initiated 

Environmental Contracting training for 40 Pacific West Region 

procurement/contracting officers and project managers. 

	 EPA offers an interesting online introductory EPP training that 

introduces EPP concepts in a government procurement context at 

<www.epa.gov/oppt/epp/gentt/index.htm>. 

	 Shannah Trout, Dynamac, Recycling and Affirmative Procurement 

Specialist, reports that staff of Kennedy Space Center, NASA’s 

Principal Center for Recycling and Affirmative Procurement, are 

responsible for keeping NASA personnel up-to-date on environmentally preferable procurement. Some of the tools NASA uses to 

increase awareness include: 

	 Procurement Information Circulars (PICs), the official NASA 

procurement rules for buyers. Affirmative Procurement 

requirements are addressed in PIC 01-20, 01-27 and 02-12, item 

78 <www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/regs/pic02 12.html>; 

	 Quarterly video conferences featuring new products and EPP 

success stories, attended by representatives of environmental, 

procurement and property disposal from all NASA centers; and 

	 Site visits to three NASA Centers per year to provide focused 

environmental purchasing training for procurement and 

contracts personnel, as well as staff in facilities and logistics. 

	 The Office of the Federal Environmental Executive, in conjunction 

with OFPP, EPA and DOE, is working with the Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM) to create an on-line green purchasing training 

course with separate tracks for Purchase Card holders and contract 

management officers/specialists. This course will be available in 

calendar year 2004 on OPM’s GoLearn e-learning site. 

Outreach to Customers 

Federal agencies have used a variety of methods to notify top management 

and all potential customers of the availability of a new opportunity to buy 

office products from their desks via an agency-specific e-catalog. Here are 

some recommended approaches: 

Give potential users a heads up 

EPA used Buylines, an electronic newsletter, to notify Purchase Card holders 

nationwide of the green office supply BPA and the forthcoming agencyspecific e-catalog. 

Hold a BPA Signing Ceremony 

On Tuesday, December 9, 2003, EPA held a signing ceremony for their new 

Green Office Products BPA with Corporate Express. The ceremony was 

attended by EPA’s Assistant Administrators (AA) for Pesticides Prevention 

and Toxic Substances and Solid Waste and Emergency Response, as well as 

34  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
the Deputy AA for Administration and Resources Management and key staff. 

The signing ceremony provided an opportunity for EPA to celebrate the 

agency’s commitment to buying green products, including ofice supplies. 

Issue a policy statement 

EPA has created a variety of green purchasing goals to reduce the agency’s 

environmental footprint. EPP goals for office supplies and other products 

were distributed to all employees on Earth Day, 2003 via office-wide e-mail. 

For more information, visit <www.epa.gov/greeningepa/p2/ eppgoals.htm>. 

Keep employees informed of reduced environmental impacts from 

their green purchases 

Some agencies maintain a flow of information about green products and 

green purchasing. NASA Ames Research Center, for example, keeps staff 

informed of its efforts to increase the use of 100 percent post-consumer 

content, processed chlorine-free paper through articles in Astrogram, centerwide e-mails and special events. 

Send regular green purchasing bulletins to all staff, contractors and 

vendors 

King County,WA issues regular bulletins describing successful EPP efforts; 

read them at <www.metrokc.gov/procure/green/bullindex.htm>. EPA sent an 

E-mail from the Office of Administration and Resources Management 

(OARM) to all EPA employees announcing their new office products BPA and 

agency-specific e-catalog. A copy of this announcement is included as 

Appendix D to this report. 

Create an informational display or kiosk 

EPA created a demo “green office” which was placed at the entrance to the 

Agency’s Office of Administration and Resource Management. NUWC in 

Newport, RI holds an annual Earth Day event to publicize the staff ’s green 

purchasing options.38 

Issue annual [or more frequent] reports on green office supply 

purchases 

NUWC and Sandia National Labs use tracking data to create graphs and 

charts that document green purchases as a percentage of total agency office 

supply purchases as well as total procurement dollars. 

Include green purchasing in training 

Take advantage of new employee orientation and other regularly scheduled 

agency training sessions, including required training for Purchase Card 

holders, to promote your office supply BPA and the concept of green 

purchasing. 

38Many federal facilities host exhibits and events for Earth Day and/or America Recycles Day. 

Past winners of the White House Closing the Circle Award for Education and Outreach use 

these events to promote their facilities' green purchasing efforts. 

ENHANCING GREEN PURCHASING  35 
Include green purchasing on the agenda 

Agencies have begun to encourage staff to include green purchasing as a line 

item on the agenda for briefings to upper level management, and for regular 

meetings of the Environmental Compliance or Quality Committee, Safety 

Committee, Contracts Customer Relations Committee (CCRC) and other 

organizations. At EPA, the Assistant Administrator for OARM distributed a 

fact sheet describing the green office products BPA to all EPA AAs at their 

regular monthly meeting and highlighted the Agency’s green purchasing 

efforts at the annual EPA Acquisition Conference. 

Hold an interactive teleconference 

Teleconferences are an excellent tool for sharing information with multiple 

organizations within your agency. Staff from the NASA Principal Center 

conduct quarterly video conferences with all NASA Centers to discuss affirmative procurement concerns. DOE holds monthly national green purchasing 

teleconferences for their green acquisition advocates. EPA announced development of their system on their Contracts Customer Relations Committee 

teleconference and holds monthly national “Greening EPA” conference calls. 

Recognize and reward efforts to enhance the online system 

Your green purchasing efforts may be able to receive agency or governmentwide recognition. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 6 received a 2003 

White House Closing the Circle Award based, in part, on initiating the use of 

100 percent post-consumer recycled content, chlorine-free copier paper in the 

regional office and the field stations and coordination with Region 6 contracting and general services to ensure waste prevention and green procurement 

are incorporated into all contract documents. NUWC also received a Closing 

the Circle award for their green office supply BPA. To apply for a Closing the 

Circle award, go to <www.ofee.gov>. 

36  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
SECTION 6 CONCLUSION 

This report illustrates how representative federal agencies purchase 

environmentally preferable products through BPAs accessed via 

agency-specific e-catalogs. For those government agencies seeking to 

establish or enhance BPAs for office supplies or other products, this report 

hopefully has identified significant opportunities to increase and better track 

and manage green purchases through these vehicles. In addition to increasing 

green purchasing, e-procurement through BPAs also allows federal agencies 

and other institutional purchasers to reduce costs, streamline the small 

purchase process, and improve tracking of purchases to meet green, socioeconomic and internal reporting requirements. 

Research done for this report found that at least 16 BPAs for office 

supplies have been put in place by federal facilities or federal agencies to date. 

Some of these entities, such as DOE’s SNL, PNNL and INEEL, DOD’s 

NUWC and NASA’s KSC and LaRC, have successfully greened their office 

supply purchases by greening their office supply BPAs. EPA is in the process 

of implementing their new agency-wide BPA for office supplies, which builds 

on the efforts of some of these early pioneers by limiting the products 

available for purchase to those that meet the agency’s green criteria (see 

Appendix A). 

EPA is anxious to learn more about federal agency efforts to buy greener 

products and services through BPAs for office supplies and e-procurement. 

Please contact Holly Elwood at elwood.holly@epa.gov to let us know how 

you are greening the procurement process. 

CONCLUSION  37 

EPA Product Specific Green Purchasing Criteria (as of 1/20/03) 

Product Categories 

on Core List 

Products Included in This 

Category 

Green Standard/ 

Guidelines 

Standard Environmental 

Attributes Thresholds 

Vendor 

Further Inf

1. Cut Sheet and Continuous Fold Paper 

Copy paper EPA’s paper policy Minimum 50% post-consumer 

recycled content Processed chlorine free 

Contact: Russell Cla

2. Other Paper Products 

Commercial/Industrial Sanitary Tissue Products <http://www.epa.gov/cpg/avaBathroom tissue CPG 20–100% recovered content, 

20–60% post-consumer content 

Paper towels CPG 40–100% recovered content, 

40–60% post-consumer content 

Paper napkins CPG 30–100% recovered content, 

30–60% post-consumer content 

Facial tissue CPG 30–100% recovered content, 

10–15% post-consumer content 

General purpose industrial wipers CPG 40–100% recovered content, 

40% post-consumer content 

Miscellaneous Papers 

Tray liners CPG 100% recovered content, 

50–75% post-consumer content 

Newsprint CPG 20–100% recovered content, 

20–85% post-consumer content 

<http://www.epa.govavail.pdf/newsprnt.p

Paperboard and Packaging Products Corrugated containers CPG <300 psi: 25–50% recovered 

content, 25–50% post-consumer content; 300 psi: 25–30% recovered content, 25–30% post-consumer content 

Solid fiber boxes CPG 40% recovered content, 

40% post-consumer content 

APPENDIX A 

 39 
40 

 

BUYING 

GREEN ONLINE 

Vendor 

Further Inf

Printing and Writing Papers <http://www.epa.gov/cpg/av

Standard Environmental 

Attributes Thresholds 

100% recovered content, 40–80% post-consumer content 100% recovered content, 45–100% post-consumer content 90–100% recovered content, 75–100% post-consumer content 5–15% recovered content, 5–15% post-consumer content 10–100% recovered content, 10–15% post-consumer content 5–40% recovered content, 5–20% post-consumer content 

30% recovered content, 30% post-consumer content 30% recovered content, 30% post-consumer content 

30% recovered content, 30% post-consumer content 30% recovered content, 30% post-consumer content Wove: 30% recovered content, 30% post-consumer content Kraft, white and colored: 10–20% recovered content, 10–20% post-consumer content Kraft, unbleached: 10% recovered content, 10% post-consumer content 

Green Standard/ 

Guidelines 

CPG CPG CPG CPG CPG CPG 

CPG 

CPG CPG CPG CPG 

Products Included in This 

Category 

Folding cartons Industrial paperboard Miscellaneous Padded mailers Carrierboard Brown papers 

Reprographic 

Offset Tablet Forms bond Envelopes 

Product Categories 

on Core List 

2. Other Paper Products 

EPA Product Specific Green Purchasing Criteria (as of 1/20/03) (continued) 
APPENDIX A 

 41 

Vendor 

Further Inf

<http://www.epa.govpaper.pdf> 

Standard Environmental 

Attributes Thresholds 

30% recovered content, 30% post-consumer content 

30% recovered content, 30% post-consumer content 

10% recovered content, 10% post-consumer content 10% recovered content, 10% post-consumer content 

30% recovered content, 30% post-consumer content 

10% recovered content, 10% post-consumer content 10% recovered content, 10% post-consumer content 

30% recovered content, 30% post-consumer content 20–50% recovered content, 20% post-consumer content 

50% recovered content, 20% post-consumer content 

50% recovered content, 20% post-consumer content 

20–50% recovered content, 20% post-consumer content 100% recycled paper and 30% post-consumer material 

Green Standard/ 

Guidelines 

CPG CPG 

CPG CPG 

CPG 

CPG 

CPG CPG 

CPG CPG 

CPG Green Seal 

Products Included in This 

Category 

Cotton fiber 

Text and cover 

Supercalendered Machine finished groundwood 

Papeteries 

Check safety Coated 

Carbonless Dyed filing products 

Index and card stock Pressboard 

Tags and tickets Post-it Notes 

Product Categories 

on Core List 

2. Other Paper Products 

EPA Product Specific Green Purchasing Criteria (as of 1/20/03) (continued) 
42 

 

BUYING 

GREEN ONLINE 

Vendor 

Further Inf

Choose Green Report(includes list of vendthese requirements) <http://www.greensOfficeSupplies_finalC<http://www.epa.govavail.pdf/nonpaper.p

Choose Green Report<www.greenseal.org

Standard Environmental 

Attributes Thresholds 

All cartridges tested by remanufacturer, parts removed from spent 

cartridges recycled, recycled content 

in replacement parts See Paper and Binders—CPG Procure printer ribbon reinking or reloading services or procure reinked or reloaded printer ribbons 

Plastic at least 25% total recycled content, paperboard at least 90% total recycled content, with 75% post-consumer. At a minimum paper bleached without elemental chlorine, but preferably paper that is free of both elemental chlorine and chlorine derivatives or unbleached. 

90% total recycled content with at least 75% post-consumer. At a minimum paper bleached without elemental chlorine, but preferably 

paper that is free of both elemental chlorine and chlorine derivatives or unbleached. 

100% post-consumer content. At a minimum paper bleached without elemental chlorine, but preferably paper that is free of both elemental chlorine and chlorine derivatives or unbleached. 

Green Standard/ 

Guidelines 

Green Seal Paper and binders —CPG CPG 

Green Seal Green Seal Green Seal 

Products Included in This 

Category 

Toner cartridges Printer ribbons 

Plastic covered paperboard Paper covered paperboard Cardboard 

Product Categories 

on Core List 

3. Inkjet and Toner 

Cartridges 

4.Time Management 

Systems 

5. Ribbons (Printer) 6. Binders 

EPA Product Specific Green Purchasing Criteria (as of 1/20/03) (continued) 
EPA Product Specific Green Purchasing Criteria (as of 1/20/03) (continued) 

Product Categories 

on Core List 

Products Included in This 

Category 

Green Standard/ 

Guidelines 

Standard Environmental 

Attributes Thresholds 

Vendor 

Further Inf

6. Binders Solid plastic CPG HDPE: 90% post-consumer content, 

90% total recycled content PE: 30–50% post-consumer recycled content, 30–50% total recycled content PET: 100% post-consumer content, 100% total recycled content Miscellaneous plastics: 80% postconsumer content, 80% total recycled content 

7.Writing Instruments 

Pens and pencils Green Seal 100% total recycled content with 

60% post-consumer content 

Choose Green Report<www.greenseal.org

Highlighters and markers Green Seal water base, certified AP nontoxic, 

conforming to ASTM D-4236 dry erase: low odor 

8. Diskettes Floppy disks Green seal Recycled 

Recycle old disks 

Choose Green Report<www.greenseal.org

9. Magnetic and 

Optical Media 

CDs Green seal Recycle old CDs Choose Green Report

<www.greenseal.org

10. Other Office Products 

Plastic envelopes CPG 25% post-consumer recycled 

content and 25–35% total 

<http://www.epa.govavail.pdf/nonpaper.p

Plastic trash bags CPG 10–100% post-consumer recycled 

content 

<http://www.epa.govavail.pdf/nonpaper.p

Plastic desktop accessories CPG 25–80% post-consumer recycled 

content 

<http://www.epa.govavail.pdf/nonpaper.p

APPENDIX A 

 43 
44 

 

BUYING 

GREEN ONLINE 

Vendor 

Further Inf

<http://www.epa.govavail.pdf/nonpaper.p<http://www.epa.govavail.pdf/nonpaper.p

Choose Green Report<www.greenseal.org

Choose Green Report<www.greenseal.org

<http://www.epa.govavail.pdf/nonpaper.p

Standard Environmental 

Attributes Thresholds 

Plastic: 20–100% post-consumer Steel: 16% post-consumer, 25–30% total Corrugated paper: 25–50% postconsumer, 25–50% total Solid fiber boxes: 40% post-consumer Industrial paperboard: 40–80% postconsumer, 100% total 

100% recycled content with at least 50% post-consumer content. At a minimum paper bleached without elemental chlorine, but preferably paper that is free of both elemental chlorine and chlorine derivatives or unbleached. 90% post-consumer, 90% total 50% post-consumer, 50% total 15% post-consumer, 15–80% total 

100% recycled content with at least 30% post-consumer content. At a minimum paper bleached without elemental chlorine, but preferably paper that is free of both elemental chlorine and chlorine derivatives or unbleached 

90% post-consumer, 90% total 90% post-consumer, 90% total 

Green Standard/ 

Guidelines 

CPG CPG 

Green Seal CPG plastic clipboards HDPE: P.S. Misc. plastics 

Green Seal 

CPG Plastic clip portfolios HDPE CPG plastic presentation folders HDPE 

Products Included in This 

Category 

Office waste receptacles 

Office recycling containers Clipboards 

File folders 

Clip portfolios and presentation folders 

Product Categories 

on Core List 

10. Other Office Products 

EPA Product Specific Green Purchasing Criteria (as of 1/20/03) (continued) 
EPA Product Specific Green Purchasing Criteria (as of 1/20/03) (continued) 

Product Categories 

on Core List 

Products Included in This 

Category 

Green Standard/ 

Guidelines 

Standard Environmental 

Attributes Thresholds 

Vendor 

Further Inf

10. Other Office Products 

 Corrugated CPG 25–50% post-consumer recycled 

content, 25–50% total 

<http://www.epa.govavail.pdf/nonpaper.p

 Solid fiber boxes CPG 40% post-consumer recycled 

content 

<http://www.epa.govavail.pdf/nonpaper.p

 Industrial paperboard CPG 40–80% post-consumer, 100% total <http://www.epa.gov

avail.pdf/nonpaper.p

Labels Green Seal 50% total recycled content with 

30% post-consumer 

Choose Green Report<www.greenseal.org

Padded mailers (see envelopes) 

Batteries INFORM rechargable where applicable, long 

lasting, product takeback for 

rechargable batteries bought, exploration of nonrechargable batteries bought 

<www.informinc.orgcwp2fsbattery.htm> 

Battery rechargers INFORM chargers can recharge several types 

of batteries 

<www.informinc.orgcwp2fsbattery.htm> 

Correction fluid Green Seal non-ozone depleting, water based, 

non-toxic 

Choose Green Report

A

<www.greenseal.org

PPENDIX A 

 45 
46 

 

BUYING 

GREEN ONLINE 

Vendor 

Further Inf

Choose Green Report<www.greenseal.org

<http://www.epa.govavail.pdf/nonpaper.p

Choose Green Report<www.greenseal.orgindustrialcleaners.ht

Standard Environmental 

Attributes Thresholds 

50% recycled content, 25% post-consumer see paper 

25–80% post-consumer recycled content 

Green Standard/ 

Guidelines 

Green Seal (Canada’s Environmental Choice also has a standard) CPG 

CPG 

Green Seal GS 37 standard 

Products Included in This 

Category 

Transparencies Desk calendar 

Plastic desktop accesories (desk organizers, sorters, trays, and memo, note 

and pencil holders) 

Cleaning products 

Product Categories 

on Core List 

10. Other Office Products 

EPA Product Specific Green Purchasing Criteria (as of 1/20/03) (continued)
APPENDIX B STATEMENT OF WORK 

BLANKET PURCHASE AGREEMENT 

FOR OFFICE SUPPLIES WITH EMPHASIS 

ON EPP AND JWOD PRODUCTS 

A. Background 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will enter into a Blanket 

Purchase Agreement (BPA) for two-day delivery of office supplies to approximately 2000 Purchase Card Holders within approximately 70 EPA facilities 

located in the 48 contiguous United States. A BPA issued pursuant to this 

Statement of Work (SOW) will provide EPA personnel with a source for use 

as the mandatory first option for satisfying the majority of the EPA’s office 

supply requirements, and will place special emphasis on providing EPA users 

with EPP and JWOD office products. For the purpose of this BPA, “EPP” or 

“Environmentally Preferable Products” is defined in Executive Order 13101 

as “...products or services that have a lesser or reduced effect on human 

health and the environment when compared with competing products or 

services that serve the same purpose...” See Attachment 2 for the EPA Green 

purchasing criteria for products purchased under this system. 

The vendor, hereafter referred to as “the contractor,” selected for a BPA 

shall be a current holder of a General Services Administration Federal Supply 

Schedule (GSA/FSS) 75 II A, Office Supplies Products and Equipment. 

B. Specific Requirements 

1. The contractor shall fully comply with all specifications, clauses and 

terms and conditions in the contractor’s GSA/FSS 75 II A, and the specific 

terms and conditions contained in this BPA. This BPA shall include all general office supplies offered under Special Item Number (SIN) 75 200 only. 

Office Services under SIN 75 210 will not be ordered via this BPA. New or 

improved office products offered under SIN 7599, New Products/Technology, 

may be ordered at the discretion of the EPA. Users will not purchase business 

machines and computers, computer software, or office furniture using this 

BPA. 

2. The contractor shall fill all orders placed before 2:00 p.m. within two 

business days. The contractor shall also provide the option of next day 

delivery. The contractor shall acknowledge all orders via facsimile, telephone, 

or electronically. If an item is not available for delivery, the contractor shall 

notify the EPA cardholder prior to delivery of the other items, and give the 

user the option to cancel the order or place the item on back order. 

3. The contractor shall ensure that all costs for performing under this 

BPA, including desktop delivery, payment by credit card, reporting, and any 

other deliverables or requirements set forth in this BPA, are included in the 

prices for the supplies ordered. The 1 percent Industrial Funding Fee required 

by GSA and shipping costs are to be included in the prices for supplies. Unless 

APPENDIX B  47 
specifically authorized in the BPA, EPA will not be responsible for paying for 

any costs or prices other than those for the supplies ordered, received and 

accepted by EPA. The contractor shall not bill EPA for any items on back 

order until such items are shipped. 

4. The contractor shall retain the order history of all cardholders as a 

means to assist them with repeat orders of the same products. The online 

ordering system must offer users the option of viewing their previous 

purchases, and a shortcut process to place repeat orders for the same items. 

5. The contractor shall provide all reports electronically, and/or in paper 

form, as directed in writing by the Project Officer(s), in accordance with the 

schedule identified in Section H, Deliverables. 

6. The contractor shall offer cardholders the option of delivery to their 

established location or another approved address to be specified at the time 

the order is placed. Attachment 3 to this SOW is a listing of approximately 

70 EPA order point locations to which the contractor may be required to 

make delivery. Personnel employed by the contractor to perform deliveries 

must be able to obtain access to the required EPA facilities. 

7. The contractor shall implement a toner cartridge and battery recycling 

program at all delivery locations. The contractor shall collect used toner 

cartridges and batteries and ensure that the used items are delivered to an 

appropriate entity for recycling. The contractor shall publicize and promote 

the recycling procedures to EPA users through the ordering system and other 

means. 

8. The contractor shall provide an electronic catalog and ordering system 

accessible via the Internet that provides the following on-line capabilities: 

a. Ordering by authorized EPA cardholders; 

b. Status review of all orders placed within the last 90 days, 

including: 

Order Number 

Date the order was submitted 

Date of shipment in response to the order 

Total amount of order 

Line-item detail for each order 

Return status 

c. Immediate order verification and product availability; 

d. Suggested substitutions for unavailable items; 

e. Special identification and designation of those items which 

meet Green purchasing criteria, 

NIB/NISH and Unicor; 

f. Cancellation of items due to non-availability upon request of 

cardholder; and 

g. Viewing capacity for those that are not authorized EPA 

Purchase Card Holders. 

9. The contractor shall provide EPA Project Officer(s) with electronic 

access to cardholders’ information to submit approved cardholder add, 

change, and delete cardholder information or order point locations. 

48  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
10. JWOD(NIB/NISH) and Unicor items—the contractor shall provide all 

items produced by NIB, NISH and Unicor vendors that fall under GSA 

Supply Schedule 75 II A. To ensure compliance with statutory and regulatory 

requirements, the contractor shall ensure the ordering system is designed to 

easily identify such items on the system 

11. Environmentally Preferable Products (EPP)—similarly, the contractor 

shall provide an extensive selection of EPP or “green” products, which meet 

the Environmentally Preferable Product (EPP) Criteria list contained in 

Attachment 2. The contractor shall ensure that all products offered on this 

system meet the appropriate EPP Criteria attached. The contractor shall 

continue to work with EPA to identify new EPP products as they become 

available, detailing these efforts, and actively market those products to EPA 

cardholder personnel on the ordering system. The contractor shall offer on the 

system a minimum of _______ new EPP products each year of the BPA, 

which will count toward the Award Term Incentive Goal for new EPP 

products. The contractor shall adapt the on-line ordering catalogue to 

promote EPA’s efforts to utilize EPP office supplies. The system must not 

show any items that are not available to EPA users, it must not offer 

specifically non-EPP items when EPP items are available. 

12. The contractor shall offer only recycled/remanufactured toner 

cartridges on the system, unless a recycled cartridge does not exist for a 

particular cartridge model. All toner cartridges offered on the system must be 

supplied by small businesses. recycled/remanufactured toner cartridge sales 

shall count toward the Small Business Supplied Goal on which the Award 

Term Incentive is based, in part. 

13. The contractor shall provide a customized, hard copy, EPA catalog at 

the beginning of each option year. The catalog will contain EPA specific 

ordering instructions and shall have a cover designed to be visually distinct 

from the contractor’s commercial or open market catalog. The contractor 

shall clearly identify JWOD (NIB/NISH), UNICOR (Federal Prison 

Industries), and EPP products within the catalog. The catalog must identify 

those items offered to EPA users, and clearly indicate which items are not 

available to EPA users under this system. The contractor shall update pricing 

in the EPA catalog no less than twice a year. The first issuance will be at the 

beginning of each Option Year of the contract. 

14. The contractor shall develop and implement an on-line training 

module demonstrates the online ordering system and procedures to EPA cardholder personnel. The training module must be in place within 45 calendar 

days after BPA award. At a minimum, the contractor’s training program shall 

cover, but is not limited to, the following areas: 

a. Instructions and specific details on how the contractor’s 

ordering system works; 

b. A description of how to read the contractor’s packing slip; 

c. An explanation of the procedures for returning items; 

d. An explanation of the procedures for recycling toner cartridges 

and batteries 

e. Procedures for the handling of situations when items are 

reflected on the packing slip, but not delivered; and 

APPENDIX B  49 
f. A full description of the contractor’s problem resolution process 

which incorporates the established EPA Disputes Process 

detailed in Attachment 7; 

g. A full description of the customer service line. 

15. All payments for purchases under this BPA will be made by the EPA 

cardholders using a Government Purchase Card. The contractor shall provide 

all EPA cardholders in all EPA locations with uniform service, in terms of 

pricing, catalog, products, product codes and service levels. The contractor 

shall provide the credit card vendor with sufficient information to enable 

third-level billing. For the purposes of this BPA, level three billing includes, 

at a minimum, specific order information which will allow the credit card 

holder to reconcile the credit card statements with the orders placed. Such 

information shall include the order reference number, a description of the 

supplies ordered and the date ordered. 

16. The contractor shall package supply orders separately for each order 

placed by a cardholder, and label packages with specific addresses and room 

numbers or drop points. The contractor shall ensure printed material 

provided to the cardholders (labels, packing slips, etc.) are uniform regardless 

of location. 

17. The contractor shall maintain a toll free customer service and help 

desk telephone line during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday 

through Friday. The hours of operation shall be those of the location of the 

servicing area of the contractor. The customer service telephone line is not 

required on the following Federal holidays: 

New Years Day

Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.

President’s Day

Memorial Day

Independence Day

Labor Day

Columbus Day

Veteran’s Day

Thanksgiving Day

Christmas Day

18. Survey—The contractor shall work with the Project Officers to 

develop Customer Satisfaction Survey questions, and distribute the survey to 

all cardholders that have placed orders under the BPA on the following 

schedule: 

Three months after award

Six months after award

At the end of each contract period (base and options)

50  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
The contractor shall ensure that the Project Officers have access to the 

raw survey data. Additionally, the contractor shall compile the results of the 

surveys and provide to them to the EPA Project Officers. The online ordering 

system shall also identify an e-mail address where users can submit comments 

regarding the online ordering system or products at any time. The contractor 

shall forward all e-mail comments directly to the EPA Project Officers. 

19. Database of EPA Purchase Card Holders and Order Point Locations— 

Upon award of a BPA, EPA will provide the contractor with a cardholder 

database with organizational information, and a list of EPA cardholder locations. The contractor shall maintain the cardholder database and order point 

locations, at on a quarterly basis at minimum, to reflect changes in EPA cardholder personnel and delivery locations. The database shall be maintained in a 

version or release of Lotus 123, or other software deemed acceptable, in writing, 

by the EPA Project Officer. The database is a deliverable under the BPA, and 

shall be developed and maintained by the contractor as property of the Government. An electronic copy of the database shall be provided to the Project 

Officer(s) in accordance with the schedule of deliverables as set forth below. 

C. Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) 

Estimated Amounts and Period of Performance 

1. Estimated BPA Amounts—EPA estimates, but does not guarantee, that 

the volume of purchases through this agreement may be $5,000,000 per year. 

EPA is obligated only to the extent of authorized purchases actually made 

under the BPA issued pursuant to this Statement of Work. 

2. Period of Performance—The anticipated period of performance is 

stated below. The period of performance of a BPA issued pursuant to this 

Statement of Work cannot exceed the period of performance of the 

contractor’s GSA Federal Supply Schedule. Thus, the BPA will expire upon 

the expiration of the GSA Federal Supply Schedule against which the BPA is 

written, or at the expiration of the Period of Performance, whichever comes 

first. 

Base Year Award Date—Award Date + 12 months

Option Year 1 Award Date + 12 Months—Award Date + 24 Months

Option Year 2 Award Date + 24 Months—Award Date + 36 Months

Option Year 3 Award Date + 36 Months—Award Date + 48 Months

Option Year 4 Award Date + 48 Months—Award Date + 60 Months

Award Term Option 1 Award Date + 60 Months—Award Date + 63 Months

Award Term Option 2 Award Date + 63 Months—Award Date + 66 Months

Award Term Option 3 Award Date + 66 Months—Award Date + 69 Months

Award Term Option 4 Award Date + 69 Months—Award Date + 72 Months

Award Term Option 5 Award Date + 72 Months—Award Date + 75 Months

3. Award Term Incentive Options—This BPA contains Award Term 

Incentive Options, which provide for five three-month options periods to the 

Period of Performance, if the contractor meets the following goals: 

Small Business Supplied Goal per year 

APPENDIX B  51 
(Expressed as a percentage of all purchase dollars): _____________ 

Offering of New EPP Items per year 

(New EPP items offered on system):_____________ 

For each period that the contractors meets BOTH goals, the period of 

performance will be extended by an additional three months (maximum 

fifteen months). No extension will be awarded if the contractor meets only 

one of the two goals for that year. 

At the end of each base and option period, the Contracting Officer will 

determine if the contractor met the incentive goals for that period. The 

contractor must meet both goals during the appropriate period in order to 

receive a three month extension. Prior to any Award Term extension of the 

BPA, the Contracting Officer will make a determination that the need for this 

requirement still exists and that funds are available. 

D. Ordering Procedures 

1. All purchases made under this BPA will be made by the use of Government Purchase Cards by authorized cardholders. The preferred method for 

ordering under this contract shall be electronic. The contractor shall, therefore, establish an electronic ordering procedure for orders placed under this 

BPA. Such a procedure shall include a secure Internet site, receipt of orders, 

and other processes such as a direct dial-in connection to the contractor’s 

system. The contractor shall also provide a means by which cardholders can 

place orders by facsimile and telephone. 

2. The contractor shall provide a pre-printed form to cardholders for their 

use in preparing facsimile orders. Cardholders will place telephone orders only 

in emergency situations. The contractor shall confirm all telephone orders via 

facsimile or the EPA person placing the order will transmit the order by 

facsimile as a confirmation of the telephone order. The contractor shall assign 

a control number to all facsimile and telephone orders, and confirm all 

facsimile and telephone orders, by return facsimile to the person placing the 

order. 

3. Authority to Place Orders—All orders placed with the contractor under 

this BPA must be accompanied by an EPA Purchase Card account number. 

EPA will provide the initial database of Purchase Card Holders. The contractor shall maintain a current and accurate listing of the Purchase Card 

Holders, and provide a copy of the order point database to the EPA Project 

Officer, and provide quarterly updates to the database. These cardholders 

have been granted the authority to place orders and commit Government 

funds to the maximum dollar authority granted to the Purchase Card. The 

contractor shall ensure proper electronic authorization is received for each 

Purchase Card Order before filling the order. 

E. Delivery Requirements 

1. The contractor shall deliver all supplies ordered under this BPA to the 

desktop location specified with the order. All deliveries shall be performed by 

personnel with the requisite access/clearance for the specified EPA facility. 

2. The contractor shall fill all orders placed under this BPA, including 

orders containing NIB/NISH, Unicor and EPP items, within two days for 

52  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
standard orders, or the next day, as requested at the time the order is placed. 

If an item is not available for immediate delivery, the contractor will inform 

the cardholder and offer to cancel the order, or place the item on backorder 

status. 

3. Delivery of all items under this contract shall be Free On Board (FOB) 

Destination for standard two day delivery, and shall be shipped with all 

transportation costs included in the cost of the item, unless otherwise 

established at the time the order is placed. 

4. Packing Slip—The contractor shall include a delivery ticket or packing 

slip with each order placed under this BPA and provide it with the order. The 

contractor shall ensure the delivery ticket or packing slip contains the 

following information: 

Name of Supplier

BPA Order Number

Order Number

Date of purchase (order) and the name of the cardholder or

customer number

Placing the order

Itemized list of supplies furnished, including total cost of the

order

Quantity, unit price, and extension of each item

Date of delivery of shipment

5. The printed name and signature of the EPA employee receiving the 

supplies and two copies of the signed Packing Slip shall be given to the 

person receiving the order and the original retained by the contractor. 

F.Transaction Review and Disputes 

1. All purchases made under this BPA will be made using the EPA 

Purchase Card. Therefore, the traditional invoicing requirements do not exist. 

The contractor shall utilize the alternative system on the EPA Intranet for 

Purchase Card reconciliation and cost allocation. This system was developed 

by EPA’s Financial Services Division and is the Agency’s recommended 

system for cardholders to review and allocate Purchase Card transactions. 

The contractor shall ensure that each Purchase Card transaction contains 

Level III data, which is required for cardholders to perform efficient 

reconciliation. 

2. Cardholders will review all electronic transaction data for accuracy. If 

there is the need for a credit or debit, the cardholder will notify the 

Contractor’s Customer Service Department immediately. The cardholder 

should attempt to resolve all product, delivery or quality discrepancies with 

the vendor and to obtain a credit when appropriate. The Contractor shall 

provide the cardholder with a tracking number for each transaction for 

further reference or follow up. 

3. The contractor shall have 30 days or one billing cycle to make the 

correction. If the cardholder is unable to obtain a credit from the vendor 

within 30 days or one billing cycle, then the item should be formally disputed 

within 60 calendar days of the posted date on the account. Disputes 

procedures are contained in Attachment 7. 

APPENDIX B  53 
G. Contract Administration Data 

1. Contracting Officer—The Contracting Officer is the only person 

authorized to make or approve any changes in any of the requirements of 

this BPA, and notwithstanding any clauses contained elsewhere in this 

contract, the said authority remains solely with the Contracting Officer. In 

the event the Contractor makes any changes at the direction of any person 

other than the Contracting Officer, the change will be considered to have been 

made without authority and no adjustment will be made in the Contract price 

to cover any increase in cost incurred as a result thereof. The Contracting 

Officer for individual orders will be noted on the orders. 

2. The Contracting Officer responsible for administration of this BPA is 

Kristin Wright

U.S. EPA, Mail Code 3803R

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20460

Telephone: (202) 564-4467

Fax: (202) 565-2554

E-Mail: Wright.Kristin@epa.gov

3. The Contract Specialist for administration of this BPA is: 

_______________________ 

U.S. EPA, Mail Code 3803R 

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW 

Washington, DC 20460 

Telephone: (202) __________ 

Fax: (202) _____________ 

E-Mail: _______________ 

4. The EPA Project Officer(s) will represent the Contracting Officer in the 

administration of technical details within the scope of this BPA. The Project 

Officer is also responsible for final inspection and acceptance of all reports, 

and such other responsibilities as may be specified in the BPA. The Project 

Officer is not otherwise authorized to make any representations or commitments of any kind on behalf of the Contracting Officer or the Government. 

The Project Officer does not have authority to alter the Contractor’s obligations or to change the BPA specifications, pricing, terms or conditions. If, as a 

result of technical discussions, it is desirable to modify the BPA requirements 

or the Statement of Work, changes will be issued in writing and signed by the 

Contracting Officer. 

5. The Project Officer assignment for this BPA may be changed at any 

time by the Government without prior notice to the Contractor. However, the 

Contractor will be notified of the change in writing. The Project Officer(s) for 

this BPA are: 

54  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
Karen Lee

U.S. EPA/Mail Code 3802R

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20460

(202) 564-4378

(202) 565-2553—fax

Lee.Karen@epa.gov

Alternate:

Cheryl Upton/Mail Code 3802R

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20460

(202) 564-6242

(202) 565-2553—fax

Upton.Cheryl@epa.gov

H. Deliverables 

1. The contractor shall submit all deliverables to EPA in accordance with 

the following schedule. Except for the Order Point Database, usage reports 

identified below shall be submitted electronically using Lotus or Wordperfect. 

The Order Point Database shall be submitted in Lotus. 

Deliverable Description 

Office Supplies 

Cardholder Database 

Reports: 

25 Most Commonly 

Purchased Items 

Value and Percentage of 

all purchases that are 

NIB, NISH & Unicor 

Items 

Due Date 

Within two business 

days to EPA locations 

within the 48 

contiguous states 

Within two weeks of 

receipt of cardholder 

information from EPA, 

quarterly maintenance 

due on the fifth day 

after the end of the 

quarter 

Fifth business day after 

the end of each month 

Fifth business day after 

the end of each month 

Submit To 

Address specified at 

time of order 

Project Officer 

Project Officer 

Project Officer 

APPENDIX B  55 
Deliverable Description 

Value and Percentage of 

all purchases supplied by 

Small Businesses 

Value and Percentage of 

all Purchases that are 

EPP items 

Value and Percentage of 

all CPG items purchased 

Quarterly and Fiscal 

Year-to-Date Expenditures detailed by function, office, REFM and 

Business Units 

Quarterly Summary of 

expenditures by Order 

Point Number and 

Organization 

Quarterly Report of 

Activities to Identify, 

Promote and Offer new 

EPP items. 

Number of new EPP 

items offered on system 

per year. 

Delivery Report (on 

time, late and back 

orders) 

Quarterly report on 

toner cartridge and 

battery recycling activity 

Due Date 

Fifth business day after 

the end of each month 

and yearly on the fifth 

business day after the 

expiration of Base and 

Option Year 

Fifth business day after 

the end of each month 

Fifth business day after 

the end of each month 

Fifth business day after 

the end quarter, and/or 

fiscal year 

Fifth business day after 

the end of the quarter 

Fifth business day of of 

each quarter 

Fifth business day after 

End of Base or Option 

Period 

Fifth business day of 

each month 

Fifth business day of 

quarter 

Submit To 

Project Officer & 

Contracting Officer 

Project Officer 

Project Officer 

Project Officer 

Project Officer 

Project Officer & 

Contracting Officer 

Project Officer & 

Contracting Officer 

Project Officer 

Project Officer 

I. Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 

1998, Section 508 Information Technology Accessibility Requirements— 

Electronic and information technology products, if any, including Web-based 

internet information and applications, provided under a BPA awarded 

pursuant to their SOW shall comply with the information technology 

accessability standards required by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation 

standards required by the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998. 

56  BUYING GREEN ONLINE 
(a) EPA has a legal obligation under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 

U.S.C. 791, to provide reasonable accommodation to persons with disabilities 

who wish to attend EPA programs and activities. Under this contract, the 

contractor may be required to provide support in connection with EPA 

programs and activities, including conferences, symposia, workshops, 

meetings, etc. In such cases, the contractor shall, as applicable, include in its 

draft and final meeting announcements (or similar documents) the following 

notice: 

It is EPA’s policy to make reasonable accommodation to 

persons with disabilities wishing to participate in the agency’s 

programs and activities, pursuant to the Rehabilitation Act of 

1973, 29 U.S.C. 791. Any request for accommodation should be 

made to the specified registration contact for a particular 

program or activity, preferably one month in advance of the 

registration deadline, so that EPA will have sufficient time to 

process the request. 

(b) Upon receipt of such a request for accommodation, the contractor 

shall immediately forward the request to the EPA contracting officer, and 

provide a copy to the appropriate EPA program office. The contractor may be 

required to provide any accommodation that EPA may approve. However, in 

no instance shall the contractor proceed to provide an accommodation prior 

to receiving written authorization from the contracting officer. 

(c) The contractor shall insert in each subcontract or consultant 

agreement placed hereunder provisions that shall conform substantially to the 

language of this clause, including this paragraph, unless otherwise authorized 

by the contracting officer. 

APPENDIX B  57 

APPENDIX C FEDERAL AGENCY ENVIRONMENTAL POINTS OF CONTACT 

DHS: bill.mcgovern@dhs.gov

DOC: pwixted@doc.gov

DOD: John.Coho@osd.mil

DOE: donald.lentzen@eh.doe.gov

DOHS: Brent.Paul@fema.gov

DOI: catherine_cesnik@ios.doi.gov

DOJ: heckerma@usdoj.gov

DOL: Clark-Patricia-C@dol.gov

DOS: holdforthje2@state.gov

DOT: catherine.johnson@ost.dot.gov

EPA: green.bucky@epa.gov

FBI: personnel.safety@fbi.gov

GSA: susan.lynch@gsa.gov

HHS: camille.beben@hhs.gov

HUD: Robert_E._Byrd@hud.gov

JWOD: jsmith@jwod.gov

NASA: mmcneill@hq.nasa.gov

NRC: DMT1@nrc.gov

NSF: mlhiggs@nsf.gov

OMB: vallina@omb.eop.gov

OPM: rtcoco@opm.gov

SBA: catherine.fletcher@sba.gov

SSA: Becky.Rendell@ssa.gov

TREAS: les.smith@do.treas.gov

TVA: wpbehlau@tva.gov

UNICOR: mcantl@central.unicor.gov

USDA: sharon.holcombe@usda.gov

USPS: mfanning@email.usps.gov

VA: barbara.matos@mail.va.gov

APPENDIX C  59 

APPENDIX D EPA ANNOUNCEMENT 

November 6, 2003 

MEMORANDUM 

SUBJECT: Agency Wide Blanket Purchase Agreement for Ordering 

Green Office Supplies 

FROM: Morris X. Winn/s/ 

Assistant Administrator 

TO: All EPA Employees 

As the EPA’s Environmental Executive, I take great pleasure in announcing the award of an Agency wide Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for 

Green Office Supplies. The new BPA with Corporate Express, which was 

made possible through the joint efforts of the Office of Acquisition Management, the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, and the Office of Solid 

Waste, will enable the Agency to buy those products which meet or exceed 

EPA’s recycled content guidelines or are environmentally preferablein some 

other way. The Agency Purchase Card will be your membership into the new, 

user friendly, web based ordering system. In most cases, next day delivery of 

ordered supplies will be available. 

Using the BPA will dramatically increase the Agency’s purchase and use 

of green products which will, in turn, greatly help the environment. For 

example, EPA conservatively estimates that our contract purchases of 

recycled copy paper saved approximately 11,000 trees and resulted in solid 

waste reductions of more than 500,000 pounds last year alone. By using the 

BPA to increase our Purchase Card purchases of green office supplies, the 

Agency will be able to significantly reduce atmospheric emissions, save energy, 

reduce materials going to landfills, and improve the overall health and well 

being of our employees and customers. 

EPA is planning a phased implementation of the BPA throughout the 

Agency. A web based training tutorial will be available, as well as a Help Desk 

number, to assist our BPA users in placing orders. The Office of Acquisition 

Management plans to have the first customers using this new acquisition tool 

by January, 2004. The use of this BPA will be made mandatory for 

purchasing office supplies via Purchase Card by the end of FY 2004. Details 

for the full implementation of this BPA will be distributed shortly. 

I want to challenge each of you to work together to be leaders in buying 

“green.” For additional information, contact Karen Lee, EPA Purchase Card 

Team, at lee.karen@epa.gov or 202 564 4378. 

APPENDIX D  61