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Green Purchasing Policy - Purchasing - Babson College
Green Purchasing Policy - Purchasing - Babson College
Goals
Babson will strive to balance environmental and fiscal responsibilities in making Green Purchasing decisions. We will promote the purchase of products with the highest percentage of
recycled content available, provided that the products meet acceptable use and performance standards.
However, environmentally preferable products are sometimes more expensive to purchase than alternative products. This circumstance can discourage green purchasing by consumers
seeking lower costing products without significant environmental benefits. Nevertheless, buying "greener products" doesn't necessarily mean paying more, especially when other cost
factors are considered.
It is important to recognize and appreciate that proper and effective green purchasing doesn't simply lead to environmental benefits, but also helps purchasers reduce full life-cycle
costs and thus save money. For practitioners, another significant benefit of green purchasing is the major contribution its adoption and application can make to the establishment and
demonstration of a broader overall Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy and image.
Green Purchasing
Green Purchasing is the practice of procuring goods and services that cause less harm to the environment, and the living beings that depend upon it for survival. Green Products are
those manufactured with more environmentally-friendly materials or which are produced with minimal impact to the environment.
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Shipped with minimal packaging (consistent with care of the product), preferably made of recycled and/or recyclable materials
Products that meet the above criteria will be considered Green Products.
Procedures
Babson College is committed to minimizing the College’s impact on the environment and reducing the College’s dependence on non-renewable energy. This Committee is charged with
establishing guidelines for the College’s Sustainable Practices including: Green Building Design; Green Building Renovations; Climate Protection Practices; Clean Energy Standards;
Sustainable Transportation Practices; Sustainable Operations; Recycling and Waste Management; and Environmentally Preferable Procurement.
When appropriate, Babson will include a clause in its bidding specifications that reads: "Babson is committed to buying products with recycled content or environmentally sustainable
alternatives. Please offer any alternatives that you feel are available for this product and supply all relevant specific information about the product."
Any existing limitation within Babson’s Policies and Procedures prohibiting or restricting the purchase or use of recycled product shall be amended to encourage the purchase and use
of recycled products to conform to this policy.
Initiatives
5 Gallon Bottled Water
Summer of 2010 Babson College began installing filtered water coolers to the Administrative offices, switching from 5 gallon plastic bottles to a filtration system, using our own town
water. Babson College is cutting down on emissions caused by water delivery trucks.
Copy Paper
Babson College’s preference is to purchase copy paper with at least 30 percent recycled content. Babson College has been using 30 percent recycled color copy paper for many years.
Babson College now prints day to day e-mails, reports, forms and other miscellaneous items doubled sided.
• Replaced the paper used to print Babson’s corporate identity suite of business cards, letterhead, and envelopes from a virgin stock to a locally milled FSC certified paper. The new
letterhead is 30% post consumer waste (PCW) (25% cotton by-products) and the business card stock is 100% PCW.
• For quick access to recycled-content of office products on Staples Advantage, search “recycled” once you enter the site. Look for the following icons:
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Recycled
Indicates an item that contains at least 10% Recycled Content.
Environmentally Friendly
Indicates an item that is environmentally preferable compared to similar items in the same category. Some of these products meet or exceed the Comprehensive Procurement
Guidelines and/or Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Guidelines.
Mattresses
Upholstery over springs is made up of shoddy fibers. (Shoddy fibers are recycled pre-consumer waste product.
Steel is recycled.
After the mattress useful life, the polyester fire barrio can be recycled.
Currently, Facilities is donating any mattress that can be reused. Mattresses that are not donated are recyled through IRN and they are burned for waste energy.
Copiers/Printers
The college reaches out to the community to collect all printers, scanners and fax machines that are not being utilized.
Babson College
Babson Sustainability Steering Committee (BSSC)
sustainability@babson.edu (mailto:sustainability@babson.edu)
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