Not-for-profits, corporations, academics, governments, public sector, labor, and co-operative organizations alike can all take part in a network that aims to help them get the best value while taking into account environmental, social, and ethical aspects of the products and services they buy over their entire lifecycle. This is called sustainability purchasing, and it is a key leverage point when it comes to influencing those aspects of the supply chain and delivering positive environmental, social, ethical, and economic benefits to the regions these organizations operate in.

So what is this group? It’s the Sustainability Purchasing Network (SPN), a British Columbia-based not-for-profit organization and a program of the Fraser Basin Council.  The SPN supports organizations to develop and continuously improve their sustainability purchasing practices through education, research, customized advisory services, and connecting like-minded purchasers and suppliers.

What makes SPN interesting is not only do they have a wide range of services from training and learning collaboration events to a tendering toolkit, but they also offer an incredible variety of resources for organizations to use.

SPN’s website (www.buysmartbc.com) is replete with guides, case studies and environmental calculators to help users research and build strong and robust sustainable purchasing programs.

There are 2009 sponsorship opportunities available to support various programs. To learn more about how to provide financial support to SPN, email them at info@buysmartbc.com.

Posted by KateRusnak in Procurement