Foreword for Green Purchasing and Sustainability
Robert Menard, Certified Purchasing Professional, Certified Professional Purchasing Consultant
Editor’s note: this blog post is the Foreword for Green Purchasing and Sustainability, a workbook and manual due out in July of this year. It will detail how to go green and save money in the process. Order information will be available in July.
This manual addresses the demand in the market for practical advice and instruction on how to go about creating a sustainable business organization. Much of that demand is being driven by large multinational industrial, commercial and retail giants. In every case, they admit that their very ambitious goals cannot be accomplished without the mandatory and active participation of their supplier base.
It cannot be over emphasized that virtually all sustainable goals come in tandem with cost savings. This means that purchasing is in a position of leadership in the so called green revolution. This work book and manual devotes abundant effort to that leadership potential and demonstrates how purchasing can accomplish sustainability goals and translate the cost savings measures already in place to sustainability standards.
During the research stage, it became evident that competing views of sustainability were needlessly hampering the cause. For example, some on the political right suspect what they interpret as leftist leanings of “tree huggers” or even the pejorative term, “watermelons”, green on the outside but red on the inside. An amusing epithet, but damaging to the sustainability cause. This same crowd is expresses grave doubts about Cap and Trade and Kyoto Protocols legislative and treaty initiatives. Some on the political left believe that the business world will not come to the sustainability unless dragged by force of legislation and regulation as the will connect sustainability with cost increases.
Still others, including the casual observer is content to wait to see what happens to others before committing, see sustainability as a fad that has no significant impact or proven value. But the same was true before ISO 9001 and Six Sigma changed the world’s business landscape.
As a practicing business professional for my entire career, and a purchasing expert, it was obvious that these debates offered little value and missed the point entirely. What is of immense value is that the very acts of cutting costs and saving money are intrinsic to and integrally inseparable from sustainability.
What is as clear as the legendary Texas blue sky is that green purchasing and sustainability are two sides of the same coin. On one side is sustainability written in the mantra of reduce, conserve, and preserve. On the flip side is the reward of reduced costs and increased profits.
Complicating this whole matter is what is considered to be sustainable. Reactions to sustainability vary from rejection, through apathy, and on to embrace. There is no clearing house or even universal acceptance of what is considered a sustainable practice. We shall see examples from forests to seafood to electric cars.
A predictable outcome of so many controversies is the allegation of interested parties against others. The most notable of these is the allegation of greenwashing, a name derived from an aspersion cast with the intent of tainting a product or process. By hurling the greenwashing charge, doubt is introduced. Without an adjudicating authority, every organization must be prepared to defend its efforts.
Thus, specific references are cited in this manual to bring attention to many of these controversies. Further, emphasis is placed on diligence in evaluating sustainability initiatives. Such diligence is presented in various measures such as computations, inclusion of resources and authorities, such as web sites, and compliance with or reference to best practices as can be reasonably established.
Should you choose the sustainable path, the reward will be attendant cost savings, the size of which depends only upon a willingness to invest the time and effort. How to do it is no longer a mystery.