Green procurement and green buying relies heavily on cost savings practices that purchasing pros have been perfecting for years. Sustainable procurement does not cost money – it saves money. Sustainability equals cost savings.

There are a variety of options to learn how you can profit by green purchasing. Political or environmental beliefs do not matter for these purposes.

Sustainability has two major influences:
– practical cost savings and
– Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Businesses of all sizes are demanding that green procurement drive sustainability throughout their supply chain and enhance Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR ) status. Whether the motivation is cost reduction, ecological image, brand protection, CSR, or just hedging the bets, the result is that green purchasing is mandatory and here to stay.

Economics drive purchasing to achieve the cost savings of sustainability while political factors like diversity, environment, and governmental concerns drive the CSR aspects. Economics is very much under purchasing’s control and skill set while CSR is far less so but purchasing must be informed and conversant in both. CSR issues may force purchasing to drive sustainability throughout the supply chain to meet the demands of customers, prospective work force, and society at large.

CSR is much less under the control of purchasing, however, many giants of commerce are driving sustainability down though their supply chains. Wal-Mart, GE, Home Depot, Proctor & Gamble, American Airlines, and hundreds of others that have registered with the nonprofit Carbon Disclosure Project cannot meet their sustainability goals of their own without invoking the efforts of their supply chain. We in purchasing must be conversant with all aspects for this reason.

Cost savings equal green, in a figurative as well as literal way. The moral of the story is that there is every reason to and zero reason not to invest in green purchasing. Enlist in a leadership or influential position by attaining sustainability through green purchasing.

Check out Bob’s blog Purchasing Negotiation Training for a wealth of information on how to get started:
The 3Rs of Green Procurement – Reduce/Reuse/Recycle
Green Purchasing Savings in Electricity
What is Green Procurement and is it Valuable to the Purchasing Profession?
Construction and Facilities in Green Purchasing’s World

Contact us today for more information and news about upcoming online green purchasing and sustainability training.