Purchasing
A surprisingly significant impact can also be made by simply adjusting the purchasing practices of your lab- What we buy matters! Buying from green companies, energy star rated companies, and small businesses dedicated to reducing environmental impact can all help to increase overall laboratory sustainability. In addition, grouping orders together can also help to reduce the carbon footprint of your lab. In the same way that something like car-pooling can reduce the overall emissions for a group of people going to the same place, so too can that concept be applied to multiple shipments from the same company to a laboratory. The best part of practices like this is that it can also help your lab save immensely on shipping costs. By making informed purchasing decisions we can reduce these impacts and also help to drive the market for sustainable retail.
It also helps to read CSU’s very own guide to environmentally and socially responsible purchasing guide for further reading into the topic: ‘Environmentally and Socially Responsible Procurement‘.
‘to support campus sustainability at Colorado State University and to provide guidelines, information, and resources in procuring products that will minimize negative impacts on society and the environment to the greatest extent practicable’
The guide entails topics from ensuring and enabling green practices in choosing companies and products, to concepts like what can be selected for environmentally and socially responsible purchasing, or ESRP. The guide stresses small dollar purchases, green specifications, the fitness of a product for its intended use, and maximum use of post-consumer materials.
Finally, it’s always a good idea to check in with the campus surplus service for anything from equipment to office furniture. Surplus always has a variety of good available that no longer have uses in other spaces around campus. Buying from surplus or other companies that do similar things, helps to reduce industrial waste and material waste, and helps us recycle old supplies.
Prior to making any research purchasing decisions, be sure to review the CSU policy. Information specific to Laboratory Supplies and Services is available (with membership or after purchase) from the Sustainable Purchasing leadership Council.
Author: Kieran Broder