Federal agencies are directed to buy products that:

• Are made with recovered content
• Use less packaging
• Are energy-efficient
• Do not create hazardous waste or toxic chemicals
• Incorporate other environmentally preferable attributes

When you use a government credit card or fill out a government purchase requisition, you can help your agency meet this commitment.

The Tips for Buying "Green" with the Government Credit Card Web page can help you purchase recycled-content, energy-efficient, and hazardous-waste-free products.

What Is Required?

Many regulations and requirements mandate that the government buy green. These include:

• EPA’s Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG) designate certain products that federal purchasers are required to purchase with the highest recovered material content level practicable. These products fall under eight different categories:
  
  
• Paper and paper products
• Vehicular products
• Construction products
• Transportation products
• Parks and recreation products
• Landscaping products
• Nonpaper office products
• Miscellaneous products

CPG was developed in response to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Section 6002 (6 pp, 47KB About PDF). Through CPG, EPA designates recovered-content products that agencies must buy. For products designated by EPA, you must purchase those that:

• Contain recovered content, if they are available;
• Meet your performance needs; and
• Are cost-competitive.

There are also reporting requirements for you to fulfill.

• Executive Order (EO) 13423 (7 pp, 110KB About PDF) signed in January 2007, requires agencies to use sustainable environmental practices when acquiring goods and services, including purchasing biobased, environmentally preferable, energy-efficient, water-efficient, and recycled-content products, and using paper of at least 30 percent post-consumer fiber content. EO 13423 subsumes EO 13101 and EO 13134.

• The Federal Acquisition Regulation (Subchapter D, Part 23) requires the government to acquire supplies and services that promote energy and water efficiency, advance the use of renewable energy products, help foster markets for emerging technologies, and are composed of the highest percentage of recovered materials practicable.

• EO 13221 (3 pp, 85KB About PDF) requires the purchase of energy-efficient electronic equipment.
  
  
• RCRA section 6002 (i) requires agencies to establish an affirmative procurement program to ensure that items purchased are composed of as much recovered materials as possible. Programs should be flexible enough to incorporate newly designated items, and must consist of the following components:
  
  
• A recovered materials preference program.
• An agency promotion program.
• Procedures for obtaining estimates and certifications of recovered materials content and, where appropriate. reasonably verifying those estimates and certifications.
• A program to monitor and annually review the effectiveness of the affirmative procurement program.

Additionally, within one year following EPA designation of an item, procuring agencies must revise their specifications to require the use of recovered materials to the maximum extent possible without jeopardizing the intended end use of the item.

Particular to EPA is the specific regulation called the EPA Acquisition Regulation (EPAAR), which requires that environmental preferability is considered in each purchase of commercial meeting and conference services. Specifically, the provisions require meeting and conference venues to provide EPA with information about environmentally preferable features and practices in use at their facilities. Other agencies may use this in their acquisition policy if they choose.

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What Actions Can I Take?

Learn about …

• federal agencies' environmentally preferable purchasing programs.
  
  
• purchasing paper and other office supplies with recycled content materials.
  
  
• Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG), which can tell you whether an item you need is available with recycled content.
  


• the General Services Administration (GSA) guidelines for purchasing CPG items and other recycled products.
  
  
• the GSA Advantage program to see what products and services are available to meet your environmental purchasing goals.
  
  
• the availability of biobased products through the Department of Agriculture’s preference program for designated biobased products.
  
  
• purchasing and using green janitorial products.
  

Evaluate…

• your paper usage and determine whether environmentally preferable paper products are available by using the Paper Calculator.
  
  
• your progress by keeping track of purchases through the guide Promoting Green Purchasing. ( Knowing how much you’re buying with recycled content will tell you how much waste is being diverted).
  
  
• and update your green purchasing program when new products are available. 
  

Purchase…

• building materials with recycled content, when appropriate, when constructing or remodeling a facility.
  
  
• ENERGY STAR qualified products.
  
  
• energy from renewable resources.
  
  
• products that help reduce water usage through EPA’s WaterSense program.
  
  
• electronic equipment with environmental attributes. For more information, visit the electronics purchasing section.
  

Use EPA’s  “Where Can I Buy It?” and Blanket Purchase Agreement to help you meet these requirements.

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Which Resources Can I Use?

EPA Resources

• The Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program is a government-wide effort to encourage and assist agencies in purchasing environmentally preferable products and services.
  
  
• The Greening EPA: Green Office Supplies Web page can guide you in purchasing environmentally friendly paper and other goods.
  
  
• The Database of Environmental Information for Products and Services, known also as the EPP database, includes information on more than 600 products and services.
  
  
• The Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG) Supplier Directory is a searchable directory of vendors who sell or distribute CPG-designated products with recycled content.
  
  
• The CPG Product Resource Guides is a series of eight guides categorizing CPG information by product type (i.e., construction, landscaping, etc.) and specifying percentage of recovered material content required in each product.
  
  
• The Tips for Buying "Green" with the Government Credit Card Web page can help you purchase recycled-content, energy-efficient, and hazardous-waste-free products.
  
  
• EPA developed the Recycled Content (ReCon) Tool to calculate greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption related to purchasing and/or manufacturing activities using analyses of baseline and alternative recycled-content scenarios.
  


• This purchase card site been developed to help you find places to buy envrionrmentally preferable products and services.

Federal Resources

• The Federal Acquisition Regulation PART 1523—Environmental, Conservation, Occupational Safety, and Drug Free Workplace specifies which environmental products and services purchasers and contract managers must use. This regulation includes purchasing of products with health, safety and environmental attributes. Additionally, a presentation on PART 1523 (11pp, 32.4KB About PDF) presents the specific wording and gives examples of how you can green a contract.
  

Office of the Federal Environmental Executive

• The Office of the Federal Environmental Executive’s (OFEE) Green Purchasing Web page has information and links on required green products and services.
  
  
• OFEE’s Green Purchasing page includes tools and resources on biobased products and their current requirements.
  

General Services Administration

• On the General Services Administration ’s (GSA) Go Environmental with GSA Advantage! Web page, products with environmental attributes are flagged with markers identifying them as environmentally friendly, recycled, ENERGY STAR–affiliated, or energy-efficient.
  
  
• GSA catalogs its green efforts at Go Green: GSA Environmental Initiatives.
  
  
• GSA’s Environmental Products Overview offers “smarter solutions for a better environment.” 
  
  
• GSA’s CPG and Other Recycled Products Web page explains how it makes recycled-content products available to its customers.
  
  
• GSA’s ENERGY STAR Qualified Products and Other Energy Efficient Products Web page explains how it makes energy-efficient products available to its customers.
  
  
• GSA’s Safer Paints, Cleaning and Other Chemical Products Web page has information on methods to contract for reduced pollutant chemical items in the supply system, such as paints, coatings, sealants, cleaners, and degreasers.
  

• FedCenter.gov's Acquisition (formerly Buying Green) Web page is a clearinghouse of information on EPP, CPG, ENERGY STAR, and other green programs.
  
  
• The White House Task Force on Recycling’s Model Agency Affirmative Procurement Plan (61 pp, 154KB About PDF) can help federal agencies develop a plan for acquiring CPG-designated products.
  
  
• The Office of Federal Procurement Policy plays a central role in shaping the policies and practices federal agencies use to acquire the goods and services they need to carry out their responsibilities.
  
  
• The ENERGY STAR Qualified Products Web page lists products in more than 50 categories that are eligible for the label and for purchase by federal agencies.
  
  
• The Department of Agriculture's BioPreferred^SM Web site can help procurement personnel purchase biobased products.
  
  
• The Commerce Acquisition Performance, Policy and Support Web page has information on green purchasing requirements and procedures at the Department of Commerce.
  
  
• The Green Procurement Strategy (24pp, 196MB About PDF) is the Department of Defense’s approach to cutting resource consumption and solid and hazardous waste generation through procurement practices.
  
  
• The Defense Logistics Information Service’s Green Procurement Report can be used by military services and federal agencies to track environmentally friendly purchases and provide required input to pollution prevention reports.
  

Other Resources

• The Responsible Purchasing Network, a project of the Center for the New American Dream, is a national network of procurement-related professionals dedicated to socially responsible and environmentally sustainable purchasing.
  
  
• The network offers a series of Purchasing Guides.
  
  
• The Recycled-Content Product Directory home page was set up by the California Integrated Waste Management Board to help individuals, small business owners, state agencies and corporate buyers in the commitment to buy recycled. 
  
  
• The California Department of General Services’ Buy Green Web page has several resources and links concerning EPP.
  
  
• The King County, Washington, Environmental Purchasing Program Web page has sample contract language on EPP.
  
  
• Minnesota’s Materials Management Division has a model EPP program.
  
  
• The Massachusetts Operational Services Division has a model EPP program.
  

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What Training Is Available?

• GSA offers online training about the GSA SmartPay^® purchase card, including requirements for green purchasing.
  
  
• What is “Green” Purchasing Anyway?" is a 2.5-hour, online introductory course offered by the Office of Personnel Management. It is available under "Government Courses."
  
  
• The Office of the Federal Environmental Executive maintains a list of green purchasing training resources.
  
  
• The Defense Acquisition University offers an online Green Procurement Course.
  
  
• The Defense Logistics Agency offers training on several relevant subjects.
  
  
• The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) offers PowerPoint training to all ANSI-accredited standards developers, providing information on how voluntary consensus standards can incorporate environmentally preferable purchasing provisions.

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How Is EPA Making Strides?

• EPA’s Executive Order 13423 goals set targets for green purchasing.
  
  
• Environmentally preferable purchasing is an integral part of EPA's Environmental Management System.
  
  
• EPA developed a Blanket Purchase Agreement for green office products, which gives employees access to more than 1,000 items that fulfill both Executive Order 13423 and recycled-content requirements for buying green.
  
  
• Many regional offices are buying green; for example, the New England office Green Team’s goal is to replace three high-use janitorial cleaning products with environmentally preferable alternatives.
  
  
• Energizing EPA features EPA’s latest, most cutting-edge efforts to improve facility environmental performance.
  
  
• The Office of Administration and Resources Management's report, Protecting the Environment and Our Employees: 2004 Performance Highlights (28 pp, 1,122KB About PDF), describes EPA's progress in reducing its environmental footprint, highlighting purchasing and other areas

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What Are Other Agencies Doing?

• EPA’s Web page on Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Case Studies highlights the accomplishments achieved by other organizations.
  
  
• EPA works with numerous other programs at other federal agencies and maintains information on them in its roster of federal agency Web sites related to EPP.
  
  
• Office of Federal Procurement Policy: Reports to Congress on Agencies’ RCRA Implementation.
  

Specific Agency Information

• The Department of Agriculture’s Green Purchasing Web Site.
  
  
• The Green Procurement Strategy (24pp, 196MB About PDF) is the Department of Defense’s approach to cutting resource consumption and solid and hazardous waste generation through procurement practices.
  
  
• The Department of Energy (DOE) purchases products with the most environmental attributes possible, especially those attributes designated by Congress for purchase—DOE’s Preferred Procurement products: biobased, energy- and water-efficient, recycled, alternative fuels and vehicles, and non-ozone-depleting.
  
  
• Greening the Department of the Interior details the agency’s green procurement and property management goals, including its Affirmative Procurement Program Green Purchasing Plan.
  
  
• The Department of Labor’s Environmentally Preferable Procurement Guide details all areas where department contract and grant managers should be environmentally aware, including office products and equipment, paper products, vehicles, and more.
  
  
  • Secretary's Order 5-94: Procurement and Use of Environmentally Preferable Products and Services is the Labor Secretary’s mandate to establish a program “for a cost-effective procurement-preference program favoring the purchase of products and services that maximize energy and water conservation, use recycled and recyclable products, minimize waste, utilize alternative fuels, and are less harmful to human health and the environment in their use and disposal than competing products and services of equal value.” 
    
    
• The Department of Veterans Affairs’ [VA] Environmental Affairs' Greening VA Web site details efforts to ensure a healthy and sustainable environment for current and future generations.
  
  
• The Department of Justice’s green purchasing brochure details the obligations of department staff.
  
  
• The US Army Green Procurement policy, practices and online catalogs.
  
  
• The Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLA) Green Procurement Program Web site outlines its green procurement program and lists products with green attributes.
  
  
• The Joint Service Pollution Prevention Technical Library is a joint effort of the Defense Logistics Agency, the Joint Services, and the Coast Guard.

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