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Electronic Equipment (back to top)
This fact sheet, prepared by the North American Green Purchasing Initiative (NAGPI), is intended to help institutions easily adopt a purchasing program for printers, copiers, and fax machines (office equipment) that accounts for social and environmental concerns.
Welcome to the Responsible Purchasing Guide for Office Electronics. This guide provides information and recommendations on responsible use, purchasing, and disposal of printers, copiers, fax machines, scanners, and multifunction devices (MFDs).
Greenpeace has created a scorecard highlighting which of the major electronics companies is doing the most to remove the worst toxic chemicals from their products and which companies have good recycling programs for their products.
This guide helps purchasers understand the issues, and to create a policy and evaluation framework for purchasing environmentally preferable IT products.
Certification/Rating Programs
Electronics Products Environmental Assessment Tool
(EPEAT) is a system to help purchasers in the public and private sectors evaluate, compare and select desktop computers, notebooks and monitors based on their environmental attributes. EPEAT provides a clear and consistent set of performance criteria for the design of products, and provides an opportunity for manufacturers to secure market recognition for efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its products.
Products certified to use less energy, save money, and help protect the environment. This link provides information on Energy Star certified products.
See Encorp Pacific's website for information on the new electronics take-back program for BC.
Office Products, Supplies and Furniture (back to top)
Specifications for office furniture that includes recycled content, air quality considerations and packaging.
Paper (back to top)
Sustainable Paper Sourcing
Latest report from Markets Initiative provides information on the drivers for sustainable paper purchasing, and reports on environmental leadership in the paper supply chain.
Markets Initiative Resources and Tools
Paper Buyer's Guides to Forest Certification Schemes and the Ancient Forest Friendly Brands.
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development
guide is designed as an information tool to help organizations develop their own sustainable procurement policies for wood and paper-based products. Information is organized around ten key issues areas of concern to purchasers: origin, information accuracy, legality, sustainability, special places, climate change, environmental protection, recycled fiber, other resources used and the needs of local communities or indigenous peoples.
A guide to help businesses source environmentally friendly paper. It includes a scorecard to enable buyers to evaluate the environmental performance of current and future suppliers on recycling, responsible forest management, pollution and climate change. It covers packaging paper to office paper and tissues and provides recommendations on how to work with suppliers towards improvements.
This purchasing resource offers an example of how BC Hydro screens its paper suppliers.
This purchasing resource offers an example of Limited Brands (the company that owns Victoria's Secret and others)policy to purchase paper for its catalogues.
Paper Calculator
The Paper Calculator shows the environmental impacts of different papers across their full lifecycle.
Paper Certification Programs
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international not-for-profit membership-based organization that brings people together to find solutions to the problems created by bad forestry practices and to reward good forest management.
SFI is an forest industry certification system. The goals of the SFI program for participants to practice sustainable forestry on all the lands they manage and to influence millions of additional acres through the training of loggers and foresters in best management practices.
Waste Management Services (back to top)
The GVRD SmartSteps Products and Services Directory contains a listing of garbage and recycling haulers. Choose "Services Only" and then "Salvage Recycling and Disposal" and then "Hauling Services".
Cleaning Supplies and Custodial Service (back to top)
The North American Green Purchasing Initiative (NAGPI) has created a buyer's guide on environmentally preferable cleaning supplies for organizational purchasers.
The Responsible Purchasing Guide for Cleaners provides information and recommendations on responsible use and purchasing of office cleaning products.
The Green Cleaning Network is a nonprofit clearinghouse dedicated to sharing information, stimulating discussion and educating the marketplace in order to accelerate the adoption of Green Cleaning for the benefit of human health and the environment.
Fleets, Fuels and Vehicles (back to top)
The Responsible Purchasing Network Guide provides information for Light-Duty Fleet Vehicles. It covers vehicles and fuels that operate efficiently, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, and increase energy security.
This program is designed to assist Canadian private and public sector fleet managers to reduce costs, reduce their impact on the environment, adopt new technologies, and benchmark their operation against others. The E3 program includes the first green rating system for vehicle fleets in North America.
Sample green fleet policy from the City of San Jose, CA, (the 10th largest city in the U.S.). The policy for greening its vehicle fleet covers both vehicles and heavy equipment and is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and life-cycle costs.
The Responsible Purchasing Network's fact sheet on fleets provides information on they types of alternative fleet vehicles available, including life cycle costing comparisons.
Eyeforprocurement's survey addresses the greening of transportation and logistics.
Electricity (back to top)
The North American Green Purchasing Initiative (NAGPI) has created a guide that explains green electricity and provides a six step process buyers should follow when purchasing it.
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