There are two issues which constantly face the business world and the retailing world in particular; becoming more environmentally friendly and acquiring product that is tied directly to commodities such lead, oil, paper, etc.. 

One area that is tied to both of these issues and that has been getting a lot of recent attention is in the area of printed receipts.  Retailers spend millions of dollars a year on receipt paper and printers that produces a result that frequently ends up being thrown away.  This waste has developed into is a movement into the world of eReceipts; receipts that are emailed to the customer’s email account and that can be scanned at the store using the customer’s SmartPhone.

While this movement is just starting out, organizations like the National Retail Federation have predicted that as much as 60% of retailers will be paperless within 5 years.  So what does that mean for the procurement professional?

It means that for many of you, paper is not going to be gone tomorrow so keeping competitive contracts with current suppliers is still very important.  What it also means is that now may be the time as a company, to begin to explore the possibility of eReceipts and the huge savings it could represent to your company in paper, printers and ink, as well as the time spent making the paper receipts work.

One way to prepare for this move is to speak with your current partners and see what plans they have for this shift in retail operations.  Many POS, printer and paper companies have already seen this shift coming and have begun preparing the way with new products for this service.

You can also deal directly with 3rd party companies that specialize in this service.  If this is a move you anticipate making in the next 18-24 months it may be a good idea to think about conducting on RFI for this service with your IT and operations team.  RFIs that tie right into an online RFQ tool are a quick and easy way to get prepared for making a move into a new technology space that will not only encourage your company’s “green” initiatives but will likely save the company a great deal of money.

Feel free to reach out to a SafeSourcing account representative today to schedule a conversation about how to do this.

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It?s a safe bet that your company is using laser printers. You may even have a thoughtful blue paper recycling container near the copier or even near every printer. You may even use recycled paper. The next step is a logical one; use environmentally friendly soy based ink for your laser printers.

In our opinion, the two best environmental reasons to use soy based ink are as follows. One, soy ink does not emit VOCs or volatile organic compounds. Two, soy ink is not petroleum based.

If you still need more reasons to switch? Assuming that you are already recycling paper, you will be glad to learn that soy based ink is said to make recycling the paper quicker and easier. Also, this option opens you up to new sources of supply. The next time you run a reverse auction for toner, you will have more options, greater price compression and another notch in your environmentally friendly tool belt.

Now you need to brag about it so that others can take their lead from you including your suppliers and customers. If you have implemented the full array of green printing mentioned in this blog, you have earned the right. Your customers will be happy to hear that you have made the right choices.

If you would like to learn more about environmentally friendly practices for your business, please visit www.SafeSourcing.com and check out our blog archives and our sourcing wiki. You will find much more information there.

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This program is a United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) program that works to prevent pollution, and the risk pollution presents to humans and the environment.

According to Wikipedia Design for Environment (DfE) is a general concept that refers to a variety of design approaches that attempt to reduce the overall environmental impact of a product, process or service, where environmental impacts are considered across its life cycle. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is employed to forecast the impacts of different (production) alternatives of the product in question, thus being able to choose the environmentally friendliest. Different software tools have been developed to assist designers in finding optimized products (or processes/services). Design for Environment includes several subsidiary approaches, such as Design for Disassembly (to facilitate recycling and source reduction.

Please continue to support triple bottom line and do your part to hold your suppliers accountable to how they design their products and programs for retail and consumer utilization. Ask your procurement solution providers how they work with suppliers on your behalf in this area.

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For guidance with your green purchasing practices, one place to begin is our federal governments Environmental Protection Agency or EPA.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a number of programs that as a result of government use offer companies a great opportunity to educate themselves in support of their social responsibility initiatives.

One of those programs, the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) helps the federal government “buy green,” and in doing so, uses the federal government’s enormous buying power to stimulate market demand for green products and services. Geared first to help federal purchasers, this site can help green vendors, businesses large and small — and consumers. Use the easy index to:
?
??Find and evaluate information about green products and services;
??Identify federal green buying requirements;
??Calculate the costs and benefits of purchasing choices;
??Manage green purchasing processes.

The U.S. EPA website www.epa.gov contains a wealth of information relative to finding and evaluating green products in any number of categories from construction to office supplies. If you truly review and evaluate the green portion of your company or individual social consciousness regularly the? U.S. EPA site is a great place to start.

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About Ecologo

Twenty year old EcoLogo was founded in 1988 by the Government of Canada but now recognized world-wide, EcoLogo is North America’s largest, most respected environmental standard and certification mark. EcoLogo provides customers – public, corporate and consumer – with assurance that the products and services bearing the logo meet stringent standards of environmental leadership. EcoLogo certifies environmental leaders in over 120 product and service categories, helping customers find and trust the world’s most sustainable products.

The EcoLogo Program is a Type I eco-label, as defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This means that the Program compares products/services with others in the same category, develops rigorous and scientifically relevant criteria that reflect the entire lifecycle of the product, and awards the EcoLogo to those that are verified by an independent third party as complying with the criteria.

The EcoLogo Program is one of two such programs in North America that has been successfully audited by the Global Eco Labeling Network (GEN) as meeting ISO 14024 standards for eco-labeling.

Do your part and hold your suppliers accountable EcoLogo certification.. To learn more please visit the EcoLogo website.

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