These are all objectives of environmentally preferred, environmentally responsible or environmentally sound procurement or purchasing. Buying green means purchasing products or services that will reduce environmental impact. This can be achieved in a number of ways and may mean looking at product characteristics such as energy efficiency, or the pollution generated by making the product. It means focusing on packaging, waste disposal, resource use, transportation, durability, and many other issues.
Procurement is the cornerstone of greening operations.
Fortunately, greening procurement is surprisingly straightforward. Buy Green is divided into five topic areas. This menu provides links to Environment Canada, the US EPA and many other resources that are excellent sources of advice on everything from starting a buy green program to environmental issues related to products and services. This menu includes green products and services, and a number of directories of products and services from various organizations. Links to supplier web pages are featured as well as lists from organizations such as Environmental Choice, EcoMall and EcoExpo.