National Association of Counties * Washington, D.C.            Vol. 31, No. 15 * August 9, 1999

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'Green' Government Through
Powerful Purchasing Decisions

Increasingly, county governments are being held to stringent standards of environmental performance. The high cost of waste disposal, tight environmental regulations, concerns about public health, and local environmental problems have pressured localities to improve the environmental conditions of their operations.

The Environmental Purchasing Starter Kit: A Guide to Greening Government through Powerful Purchasing Decisions, is a new tool published by NACo that walks a county official through the process of creating a workplace that is safer for employees and healthier for the community.

What does this include?
County employees and their contractors frequently handle and store materials – such as cleaners, degreasers, pesticides, fertilizers and paints – that are harmful to the environment and to human health. By buying products with fewer hazardous ingredients, counties can reduce potential risks, accidents and liability concerns. Counties also can save money in reduced utility bills and conserve resources through the purchase of energy-efficient products and goods made with recycled content.

County-based environmental purchasing also can reinforce the nation’s competitive advantage for the production of environmentally clean and efficient technologies. Large and small U.S. companies are retooling and redesigning products to meet this growing demand, dramatically increasing the number of environmentally preferable products available for domestic use and export.

Many counties are already seeing the benefits of environmental procurement.
In addition to the advantages listed above, counties that have implemented environmental purchasing practices have seen their disposal costs go down, especially for hazardous wastes. For example, costly violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) prompted Lee County, Fla., to implement a series of changes in its fleet department. Through purchasing changes, recycling and other waste reduction techniques, the department reduced its hazardous waste generation to zero, saving $16,800 annually in avoided waste disposal costs.

In the words of Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah, " Pollution prevention activities and simple modifications to the department’s purchasing criteria have not only led to reduced disposal costs, but a cleaner, safer work environment."

How do we get involved?
NACo recommends counties choose one operation, department or product category in which to begin. By identifying potential hazards and pilot testing alternative products in one area, counties can gain a broad understanding of how to expand the program to additional departments.

The starter kit also describes how to identify environmentally preferable products, how to gain support for these programs, how to work with vendors and how to take advantage of the public relations benefits these activities offer.

What does the kit contain?

The starter kit contains:

• step-by-step overview of county environmental purchasing initiatives
• four case studies of local programs
• a comprehensive list of resources
• a sample environmental purchasing resolution
• a model press release to inform the media about your initiative

To assist county efforts, NACo is serving as an information clearinghouse for environmental purchasing information. We specialize in helping to connect members interested in starting programs with those who already have efforts in place.

The Starter Kit is free for NACo members and $10 for nonmembers. To order a copy, visit NACo’s Publications Web site online at www.naco.org/pubs/catalog/index.cfm or contact Naomi Friedman 202/942-4262; nfriedma@naco.org or Jill Ziegler at 202/661-8806.

(County Services News was written by Naomi Friedman, project manager.)