About Us
The Sustainability Purchasing Network (SPN) is a learning resource for corporate, not-for-profit, academic, government, public sector, labour, and co-operative organizations in their sustainability purchasing efforts.
If you are interested in making purchasing choices that consider how goods and services promote a healthier community and environment through all stages of their life cycle—from extraction and harvesting to manufacturing to disposal—this website is for you.
Visit our Resource Center to access state-of-the art research, best practices, and resources on sustainability purchasing.
Go to Learning Events to sign up for a Network Learning Circle or Workshop to develop your own professional skills and knowledge in this emerging strategic business and sustainability practice.
Join our Online Forum to exchange ideas, share best practices, and find out what others are doing to address sustainability purchasing challenges in their organizations.
Who We Are
The Sustainability Purchasing Network creates social, economic, and environmental value by educating, connecting, and inspiring organizations to develop and improve their sustainability purchasing efforts. The Network serves the needs of organizations through sustainability purchasing training, resources, and projects.
The SPN is a program of the Fraser Basin Council, a BC-based not-for-profit organization.
Our Mission, Vision and Values
Mission: The mission of the SPN is to foster a sustainability economy by helping organizations build sustainability purchasing capacity.
Vision: SPN's vision is to be the provincial sustainability 'go-to' resource centre offering information, training, networking, collaboration and advisory services for organizations in BC and beyond.
SPN's Core Values are to:
• Serve the needs of private, public and not-for-profit organizations for sustainability purchasing information, education and collaboration;
• Deliver highly professional, service-oriented standards and results and;
• Support, build and celebrate a growing community of like-minded organizations committed to the integration of social, environmental and economic considerations in purchasing practices.
What We Mean by Sustainability Purchasing
We define sustainability purchasing as a management process used to acquire goods and services ("products") in a way that gives preference to suppliers that generate positive social and environmental outcomes, and that integrates sustainability considerations into product selection so that impacts on society and the environment are minimized throughout the full life cycle of the product. Sustainability purchasing entails looking at what products are made of, where they have come from, who has made them, how they will be ultimately disposed – even considering whether the purchase needs to be made at all. The range of objectives a sustainability purchasing program might consider include:
- Waste Prevention and Reduction
- Resource Reduction
- Pollution and Toxin Reduction
- Reduction of GHG Emissions
- Biodiversity Maintenance
- Wages and Working Conditions
- Employee Health and Safety
- Human Rights
- Growth of Sustainable Economy
- Support for Local Economy
- Support for Social Enterprises
- Aboriginal Procurement
- Fair Trade
SPN Sponsors
SPN receives financial support from the following generous Sponsors:
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