The mission of the City EP3 Team is to provide procedures and standards for City purchasing decisions that will include environmental considerations, in order to promote practices that will significantly lessen the environmental impact of its operations, conserve natural resources, encourage environmentally conscious manufacturers and vendors, and improve public and worker’s health while remaining socially and fiscally responsible.
PROGRAM GOALS
- Reduce environmental impact
- Reduce human health impacts
- Reduce costs
- Support a “green” products market
- Maintain its reputation as a thoughtful, caring community focused on achieving a higher level of sustainability
- Conserve resources
SOME ACHIEVEMENTS:
1. Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy: Administrative Directive No. 2.04, Environmentally Preferable Purchasing, was adopted by the City Manager.
2. Green Fleets Resolution was adopted.
3. Employee Education and Outreach Plan.
4. Bids and RFPs considering Environmentally Preferable language.
5. Baseline of purchasing practices: The EP3 Team surveyed various City departments to assess what environmentally preferable purchasing practices already were in place and to identify areas for improvement.
6. Product Recommendations: The EP3 Team currently is compiling on a list of vendors, and will create a list of product recommendations, to help departments choose environmentally preferable products.
7. Measuring Policy Success: The Team discussed both qualitative and quantitative measures to assess the success of the EP3 Team and the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy.
8. Contests: The EP3 Team organized fun and educational contests to evaluate and increase City staff awareness about energy savings and paper usage reduction.
9. Onboarding New Employees: The Team worked with the Human Resources department to add a sustainability education element to its new-hire orientation program.