GO GREEN! BUY GREEN! Green Purchasing at PSU Julia Fraser: Graduate Research Assistant Campus Sustainability Office Green Teams Meeting July 15, 2010

What is “green” purchasing? Green Purchasing is simply choosing products and services that reduce impacts on human health and the environment, where feasible. Every PSU purchase has an impact on our community, human health, and our environment.

PSU’s green purchasing program seeks to support and encourage PSU staff, faculty and administrators to buy greener products. A Buy Green Coordinator Web page – coming soon… Checklists, resources, facts sheets, cases studies and links to other programs Market research and campus collaboration Go Green! Buy Green!

What can you do? Reduce consumption Ask for help or suggestions – we can provide research for you Provide outreach and education You can lead by example Help implement purchasing standards Pilot test “green” alternatives Write up case studies to present to other Green Teams Direct colleagues to Go Green! Buy Green! resources on campus

What does buying green look like? Choosing: Recycled content products Energy-and water-efficient products –Standby power devices –ENERGY STAR products –EPEAT-registered products Alternative fuel vehicles/alternative fuels Environmentally preferable products –Non-toxic products and services –Food service –Building products –Green meetings and conference services

How to buy green – ask questions What is the product made of? –non-renewable resources? –fossil fuels? –toxic components? How was it manufactured? –processed with chlorine? –pollution producing? –other social or environmental impacts? How much energy does it use? How much water does it use? How do I dispose of it?

How to buy green – the basics Look for these green attributes: Durable/Reusable Recycled content Energy Efficient Non Toxic Third party Ecolabels: such as Green Seal, EcoLogo, EPEAT, Energy Star, FSC

How to buy green – the basics Think about the total cost of owning the goods not just the initial purchase price A more efficient product may cost more at purchase, but will not cost as much to run over its life

Think about the Life Cycle of a CD Materials Extraction Materials Processing Manufacturing Packaging Transportation Useful Life Reuse, Recycling or Disposal

Source Reduction Recycled Products Energy and Water Conservation Toxics and Pollution Social Equity Best Practices

By less stuff - PSU ReUse Room! - Facilities Surplus Durable vs. Disposable Consider total cost of ownership Packaging: request recyclable packaging or less of it! Source Reduction

Building materials - recycled plastic lumber Office Supplies- pens, paper, binders Textiles- towels, bags, shirts Recycled Products Buying recycled content products supports recycling markets, keeping valuable materials out of the landfill.

Energy Star Compliance Water Sense Responsible use Turn off at night Wise use of energy and water not only reduces costs, but reduces the demand for fossil fuels and conserves precious fresh water resources for everyone. Energy and Water Conservation

Cleaning Products- Avoid Chlorine based products. - Green Seal or EcoLogo certified Paints- Low VOC paint - Metro Recycled Paint Electronics - RoHS, and EPEAT certifications Textiles and Fabric- Carpet, curtains, upholstery - Greenguard certification Toxics Reduction

MWESB vendors - Support Oregon MWESB - Purchasing and Contracting Local vendors- Keeps $ in state - Supports local jobs Ethics- Sweatshop produced? - Working conditions - Environmental stewardship - Community health Fair Trade- Fair trade certification Social Equity

Paper – its an easy win In FY09, PSU purchased 816 cases of virgin copy paper (36% of total). + Switching to 100% post-consumer paper would SAVE the equivalent of: 528 trees* CO 2 equivalent of 2 cars/year * 241,261 gallons of water * enough energy to power 2 homes/year * PSU Paper Report *Environmental impact estimates were made using the Environmental Defense Fund Paper Calculator.

What to look for when buying paper Recycled Content – 100% PCW (Post Consumer Waste) is best Processed Chlorine Free – No chlorine or chlorine compounds were used in the papermaking process. - Certified by Chlorine Free Products Association (CFPA) Sustainable Forestry - Look for FSC certified

Boise Aspen 50% or 100% Grays Harbor 100 Office Depot Envirocopy Office Max Recycled Multipurpose And many more!!! Brands of paper to consider

Reduce paper use! By reducing your paper consumption you can offset the cost of recycled paper. Give unwanted one-sided printouts a second chance as draft paper. (NOT CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS) Dedicate one of the trays in the printer for printing with draft paper

Check the PSU ReUse Room first (they’re free!) Choose durable and reusable vs disposable Choose recycled content Post-its hanging files file folders paper clips binder clips and more… Office Supplies

Recycled content stick pens: only $0.03 cents more per pen 100% recycled paper: $0.38 cents more per ream than virgin Recycled content paper clips: $0.22 more per box * Cost information from comparison provided by Office Depot Examples of greener products

Lets kick “Canned Air” In FY09 PSU bought 240 cans from Office Depot Its not even “air”: Flammable and toxic compressed gases e.g. Tetrafluoroethane There are a lot of creative alternatives: Giotto’s Rocket A paint brush Data Vac electric duster Save money & reduce waste

Toner Cartridge Recycling PSU has a toner recycling contract with Sustain. Please use it! > Just fill out a Work Order and PSU Recycles will do the rest! > Set up a central collection point for cartridges Helps us track our recycling! Sustain will pick up the pallets of cartridges at no cost to PSU

Close the Loop! Try Remanufactured cartridges Each new toner requires half a gallon of oil to make the new plastic* One remanufactured toner cartridge saves… 0.5 gallon of oil not required for new plastic 2.5 lbs metal and plastic saved from landfill Plus – they are cheaper!! Save PSU some $$$ resources! *Stopwaste.org

Air Travel 12,000 MTeCO2 from PSU air travel in FY08 11% of PSU total emissions.* PSUs Climate Action Plan Goals Tracking travel data Outreach and awareness of less carbon-intensive forms Remove internal and OUS wide barriers to choosing less carbon-intensive forms of travel Adding a box on travel forms acknowledging carbon impact Creating an employee offset program * PSU Climate Action Plan 2010

Questions? We can provide research, resources and work with you to develop specifications, or just give you advice and ideas to help you GO GREEN! BUY GREEN!