How Procurement Officials Can Help Keep the Air and Water Clean.

• Author: Barrett, Katherine
• Position: PERSPECTIVE

For generations, procurement has been regarded as a way of getting goods and services into the hands of state and local government agencies--but purchasing dollars can also be used to help advance policy initiatives.

Environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) is a perfect example.

The idea is simple: If an entity is purchasing a good or a service, and can spend the same (or potentially even less) money in a way that's beneficial to the environment, why not do it? There's a seemingly endless list of purchases that can be made with an eye toward sustainability and environmental soundness, beginning with lawn mowers, leaf blowers, fleets of vehicles (including buses), paper, cleaning fluids, and more.

"In the past we always thought of procurement as a transactional profession," Rick Grimm, CEO of NIGP: The Institute for Public Procurement, told us recently for a column we wrote for Route Fifty. (1) "The client requested something, and we went out and bought it. As the years have passed, there has been growing acceptance of empowering procurement to act strategically in achieving the mission of the public entity, including the ability to use it as a lever for social responsibility."

"Procurement can establish itself as a strategic contributor," said Stephen Gordon, a veteran of 45 years in the public procurement arena, who is coordinator of The Continuity of Supply Initiative, an all-volunteer advocacy group.

The potential benefits are huge, including:

* Reducing waste, pollution, and hazardous materials.

* Minimizing the use of natural resources in production, including water, wood, and oil.

* Lessening the consumption of materials by limiting the frequency of replacement, which subsequently reduces waste as well.

Awareness of these potential benefits led 12 of the 29 respondents to a 2020 survey conducted by the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) to put a green purchasing policy in place, while 14 had executive orders mandating green purchasing or sustainability initiatives and goals. And the number of entities that are moving in this direction appears to be growing, both at the state and local levels.

Of course, one obstacle to green purchasing is that it can sometimes cost more than other alternatives, and though taxpayers may want clean air and water, many are hesitant to pay for it at tax time. In fact, the City of Sacramento, California, has passed a statute mandating that the city cannot pay more than a five...