After reading Bill McKibben’s Deep Economy a few years ago, I realized just how much power my purchasing decisions have. I can decrease my carbon footprint by buying organic or help ensure a farm worker is getting a fair wage by buying Direct Trade coffee. I can do all this just by considering what I am buying a little more carefully. Now imagine how the world would change if not just I did this, but you did it too? Or entire groups of people joined in?
photo credit: Edmontonenthusiast
What if large corporations jumped on board? Or what if a major municipality such as the City of Edmonton was part of this shift? Imagine the positive impact we could have!
On February 3, 2010 City Council approved a Sustainable Purchasing Policy (SPP) which directs the City of Edmonton to begin to formally consider both social and environmental objectives when making its purchases. I feel very privileged to have been part of the project team, lead by Materials Management, that brought this policy to life. However, developing the policy was definitely the easy part, now we have to actually apply it. Eventually the policy will apply to pretty much everything, but implementing a policy like the SPP in an organization that spends $1.5 billion annually represents a huge challenge. This is why we have decided to phase in the policy and look at about ten or so spend categories each year. This year I look forward to assisting in developing environmental specifications for everything from paint to cleaning products.
But don’t just rely on the City to change the world, try it in your own life: look for fair trade or direct trade goods, buy locally produced items, and start shopping at stores that disclose their factory locations like MEC. We all have to change our spending behaviour and focus on sustainable products if we’re going to make a difference.
photo credit: Edmontonenthusiast
If you’d like to read more of the specific’s of the City’s new sustainable purchasing policy, check out policy C556.