Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP)

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a popular way organize the comprehensive analysis of environmental impacts over a product’s entire life cycle, from cradle to grave.

1. Examine the most significant:
   • • Inputs (energy, water, raw materials, equipment, supplies, finished goods)
     • Outputs (products, product use, and non-product outputs)
     • Processes (focus first on those with the largest inputs or outputs)
2. Consider the direct impacts of your actions
3. Move upstream and downstream to look at the impact of:
   • • The companies you do business with
     • The companies they do business with, and
     • The companies they do business with
4. Consider the choices your organization can make to
   • • Improve profitability
     • Reduce environmental impacts
     • Increase resilience for both your organization and those you impact.

A product or service has environmental impacts throughout its life cycle—both before and after it is purchased and used. That life cycle includes:

• • Activities associated with raw material acquisition
  • Product manufacturing
  • Packaging and transportation
  • Product use
  • Disposal

A product’s environmental attributes can measure of its environmental impacts. Compare the environmental impacts of competing products for qualities like:

• Recycled content
• Energy efficiency
• Reduced toxicity

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, with funding from U.S. EPA and other federal agencies, developed a lifecycle-based decision support tool called BEES (Building for Economic and Environmental Sustainability). With BEES you can set your own environmental priorities or rely on experts to decide preferences.

To evaluate the environmental impacts of a potential purchase, you can also contact:

• Contractors specializing in environmental purchasing
• Nongovernmental organizations such as Green Seal, Scientific Certification Systems, or other organizations.