Purchasing

389 resources

Student Affairs Leadership in Sustainable Purchasing and Event Coordination Webinar

  • University of Arizona (AZ)
  • NIRSA: Leaders in Collegiate Recreation (OR)
  • Association of College and University Housing Officers - International (OH)
  • Portland State University (OR)
  • Colorado State University (CO)
  • Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (MA)
  • ACPA - College Student Educators International (DC)
  • Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium (HEASC) (PA)

This webinar features ideas and examples of how Student Affairs units have implemented green practices in purchasing and event coordination. It includes presentations from the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council and ...

  • Posted Nov. 10, 2016
  • Videos & Webinars
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Eco Move Out and Eco Move In

  • University of Alberta (AB)
  • Posted Sept. 26, 2016
  • Photographs
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Greenhealth Cost of Ownership (GCO) Calculator

  • Practice Greenhealth (VA)

Total cost of ownership (TCO) is a way for purchasers to assess all the costs associated with a product over its lifetime - from initial purchase through its use, maintenance, and ...


Arizona State University's Help Center

  • Arizona State University (AZ)

The ASU Help Center provides support to students, faculty and staff sustainably due to ASU’s Green Purchasing Policy. The Help Center uses personal computers that meet the IEEE 1680 ...

  • Posted Sept. 15, 2016
  • Photographs
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EcoPaper Toolkit for Purchasers

  • Environmental Paper Network (ID)

The EcoPaper Toolkit is a straightforward, comprehensive resource to make it easier to implement a cost-effective, responsible paper policy at any sized institution. It is based on consensus criteria of ...


NC State Students Champion Solar Installation

  • North Carolina State University (NC)

In 2016, the Park Scholarships program celebrates its 20th year. Each class of Park Scholars chooses a legacy gift to leave the university, and the Class of 2015 chose to ...


Green Cleaning with Orbio Water

  • UMass Chan Medical School (MA)

University of Massachusetts Medical School has taken an innovative approach to sustainable cleaning. Rather than purchasing traditional cleaning chemicals to clean floors and surfaces, UMMS has invested in floor scrubbers ...


Green cities and ivory towers: how do higher education sustainability initiatives shape millennials’ consumption practices?

  • University of Michigan (MI)

College-educated millennials, motivated by a preference for vibrant, walkable neighborhoods with access to good public transportation, are helping to drive an economic resurgence in many American cities. At the same ...

  • Posted Aug. 22, 2016
  • Publications
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Water bottle ban a success; bottled beverage sales have plummeted

  • Washington University in St. Louis (MO)

Sales of bottled beverages at Washington University in St. Louis have plummeted 39 percent since 2009, when the university became the first in the nation to ban the sale of ...

  • Posted Aug. 19, 2016
  • Publications
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The Power of Purchasing: Using University of Michigan Procurement to Promote Social Change

  • University of Michigan (MI)

The University of Michigan, as a public university, has an inherent responsibility to serve the interests of the community it represents. The institution purchases more than $1 billion of goods ...


Rescued Food Feast

  • Arizona State University (AZ)
  • Aramark (PA)

The Rescued Food Feast was an event held at Arizona State University and was a collaboration between the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, Aramark Higher Education, Sprouts Farmers ...

  • Posted June 11, 2016
  • Case Studies
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UCLA is the Largest Public University in the U.S. to achieve Fair Trade Status

  • University of California, Los Angeles (CA)
  • Fair Trade Colleges & Universities

University of California, Los Angeles, part of a national initiative by Fair Trade Campaigns to engage college/university students in issues of global poverty, officially received designation as a Fair ...

  • Posted June 11, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Emory University's Pollinator Protection Program

  • Emory University (GA)

Concerned about the plight of bees and other pollinators, essential for two-thirds of the food crops we eat every day, Emory University developed a comprehensive Pollinator Protection Commitment, which includes ...

  • Posted June 10, 2016
  • Case Studies
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Avoiding Chemical Flame Retardants on Campus

  • Harvard University (MA)

Harvard University’s Sustainability Plan, created in partnership with faculty, students, and staff, is rooted in a sustainable development vision focused on enhancing community and individual well-being within and across ...


It’s What’s for Dinner: Furman University’s Sustainable Dining Initiative

  • Furman University (SC)

The majority of the food in the United States is produced via an industrial food production and distribution system, which is inherently unsustainable due to its widespread environmental (e.g ...


The Real Food Challenge at Lehigh University

  • Lehigh University (PA)

The Real Food Challenge (RFC) is a national student run campaign to encourage campuses to increase the ratio of food purchased from “conventional” to “real food”. At Lehigh, the Office ...


The Sustainable Bookstore: Giving New Life to Discarded University Library Books

  • Appalachian State University (NC)

When the Appalachian State University library culled its stacks, close to 80,000 books were slated to be recycled. Many of these books, some dating back to the late 1800s ...


NC State University Students Leverage Partnerships To Eliminate Plastic Bags on Campus

  • North Carolina State University (NC)

Over a three-year period, the NC State Stewards collaborated with the university’s Campus Enterprises division to move toward the elimination of single-use plastic bags in the most wasteful locations ...


The Merits of Fair Trade - Fair Trade Colleges & Universities

  • Fair Trade Colleges & Universities

Fair Trade Colleges & Universities presents: The Merits of Fair Trade.

Fair Trade is a market-based approach to alleviating poverty in ways that improve lives, empower communities, and protect the ...

  • Posted April 15, 2016
  • Videos & Webinars
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College Students Starting To Demand 'Living Wage' Sportswear

This article explores how students can impact campus purchasing decisions. It provides insight into the difference between “fair trade” and “living wage” companies, and what students can do to promote ...

  • Posted April 12, 2016
  • Publications
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Guidance for Leadership in Sustainable Purchasing

  • Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (MA)

The Guidance for Leadership in Sustainable Purchasing Version is intended to help organizations improve the environmental, social, and economic performance within their supply chains—across the entirety of product and ...


Challenge the Label

  • ISEAL Alliance

Sustainability claims have become widespread in the modern marketplace, and with it greenwashing has expanded. The practice of making empty, unfounded or exaggerated sustainability claims risks alienating buyers committed to ...


BuyingPoultry

  • Farm Forward (OR)

BuyingPoultry is a free independent buying guide that cuts through labels and marketing claims and makes it easy to find the highest-welfare products near you.


Real Food Calculator

  • Real Food Challenge (MA)

The Real Food Calculator is a tool for tracking institutional purchasing over time. College and University students in the U.S. use the Real Food Calculator as a platform for ...


Michigan State University Sustainable Food Procurement Guide

  • Michigan State University (MI)

This guide will clarify to existing and potential new supply chain partners what is important

to MSU as we strive to make increasingly responsible choices in food service sourcing, and ...

  • Posted March 3, 2016
  • Publications
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Banning Bottled Water on Campus; Beyond Excuses

  • Pacific Lutheran University (WA)

Over 100 colleges and universities across the US and Canada have enacted a policy of responsible water sales in their purchasing. Such a drastic change for an institution is made ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Smart Print: Using the Cloud to Identify Waste & Excess Energy Consumption

  • University of Illinois Chicago (IL)
  • Pharos Systems International (NY)

The University of Illinois at Chicago has deployed a new, cloud-based tool to deliver a campus-wide view of their printer fleet, their users who print and the documents they print ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Impact Advocacy - Fair Trade in Your Life and on Campus

  • Fair Trade Colleges & Universities

Fair Trade empowers farmers and workers and promotes economic development, social justice, and environmental stewardship. The world of Fair Trade includes a wide range of groups and interests; businesses, non-profits ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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PHOENIX lifestyle: Consumerism with Conscience

  • University of Massachusetts Amherst (MA)

A student-led initiative at UMass Amherst that strives to bring awareness to the issue of consumerism in the apparel industry and give students, faculty, and others a unique opportunity to ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Sustainable and Ethical Purchasing: Fair Trade Procurement Policies and Practices

  • Fair Trade Colleges & Universities

Over the last two years Fair Trade Colleges & Universities has developed and piloted policies to help institutions purchase sustainable and responsible goods. Leveraging the purchasing power of higher education ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Spearfish Local: Improving Community Health Through Collaboration

  • Black Hills State University (SD)

Black Hills State University (BHSU) and community partners are seeking to create a culture that supports and values our local food economy and other aspects of healthy communities. Located in ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Do you want your receipt? How simple changes to bookstore operations reduce use of BPA and related chemicals.

  • Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MN)

What if even the simplest transaction at your campus bookstore could be better for employees and our environment? If your campus uses thermal paper receipts in its bookstore, library or ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Incorporating Life Cycle Analysis into Campus Dining

  • University of Missouri (MO)

The environmental impacts associated with food production have been well-documented through Life cycle analyses (LCA). LCA of food products have focused largely on individual food items. However, very little work ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Appalachian State University/Scale Free Systems Project

  • Appalachian State University (NC)

Scale Free Systems is a chemical free solution to scaling as well as corrosion and bacterial control in heat transfer equipment. The Scale Free System has been proven to prevent ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Understanding Why Product Lifecycles are Critical to Supporting Campus Sustainability Initiatives

  • University of Denver (CO)
  • Staples Business Advantage (MA)
  • Kimberly-Clark Professional (GA)

Sustainability is an integral part of a university's environmental commitment and recruiting efforts. Universities need to embrace sustainable practices and be transparent when communicating measures being adopted to satisfy ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Real Food, Real Communities: Mobilizing Students, Community Members and Staff to reform College Food Procurement Policies

  • Carleton College (MN)
  • Bon Appétit Management Company

Where our food comes from and how it is produced is question that is becoming extremely important to students and administrators alike. Carleton College has demonstrated a commitment to answering ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Making Green Cleaning Stick: The Journey to Green Seal Standards

  • Muskegon Community College (MI)
  • Western Michigan University (MI)

LEED V4 now recognizes custodial programs certified under one of the following: Green Seal's Environmental Standard for Commercial Cleaning Services (GS-42); or International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA) Cleaning Industry ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Cooperative Education: Promoting Sustainability in Procurement & Education

  • Portland Community College (OR)

This presentation will share highlights from projects which seek to support instructors in the development and implementation of sustainability curriculum thereby increasing student engagement and improving their knowledge, skills and ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Local Purchasing 101: we'll debunk the price myth, talk through other obstacles to local purchasing and how to overcome them

  • Denison University (OH)

With every college trying to buy more and more local food these days, many are struggling with how to do this but still meet their budget. I'll explain how ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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PROCUREMENT GONE GREEN!

  • National Joint Powers Alliance

The ability to procure the specific Green products you desire, to meet your agencies unique Green initiatives, and without wasting time, money or unnecessary effort is at the core of ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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More Than Fair: Developing Ethical & Sustainable Guidelines for Purchasing

  • Oregon State University (OR)

Over the past two years, multiple organizations within Oregon State University have collaborated to develop a set of priorities and guidelines aimed at increasing ethical purchasing practices on campus. This ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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98% of the Clothes We Buy Are Made Overseas

  • TS Designs (NC)

Eric Henry will discuss the impact that fashion moving overseas has had not only on the finished product we wear but also on the world. Eric breaks down why a ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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UC Berkeley Plastic Disclosure Project

  • University of California, Berkeley (CA)

The Plastic Disclosure Project (PDP) at UC Berkeley discloses the campus' plastic footprint, making it the first University to publicly reveal this information. The objectives of PDP is to measure ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Beyond Excuses: Banning Bottled Water on Your Campus (2014)

  • Pacific Lutheran University (WA)

Over 90 universities across the US and Canada have enacted a policy of responsible water sales in their purchasing. They have each banned the sale of bottled water at their ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Teach by Example with Environmentally Preferable Electronics

  • American University (DC)
  • Global Electronics Council (OR)

Electronic products are everywhere on university campuses – from computers and monitors in labs and libraries, to copiers and printers in every academic office, to TVs in student dorms. IT equipment ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Integrating FSC into Your University: A Case Study of Berea College

  • Berea College (KY)
  • Hellmuth + Bicknese Architects (MO)
  • Forest Stewardship Council (MN)

How we source and use forest products like wood and paper can have a significant impact on the environment. At academic institutions, where people use such significant quantities of wood ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Green Cleaning in the Real World: What Works and How Much Does it Cost?

  • Lane Community College (OR)

Somewhere between cleaning products and equipment that simply don’t work and the greenwashed products that merely re-label toxic options lies the real world of green cleaning undertaken by a ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Buy Less, Buy Better: Defining Success in Green Purchasing

  • University of Arizona (AZ)
  • Office Depot, Inc. (TX)

In 2012, the University of Arizona enacted a Green Purchasing Policy directing that equal consideration be given to environmental and social factors as is given to typical purchasing considerations such ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Make a difference with a commitment to certified sustainable seafood

  • Marine Stewardship Council (WA)

Higher Education is playing an increasingly important role in fostering sustainable practices, including food service and seafood. With increasing pressure on global fisheries to feed a growing population, the need ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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Is Your Institution Ready for the Future of Sustainable Procurement?

  • Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (MA)

Leading organizations in government, industry, academia and the non-profit sector came together in 2013 to launch the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC) in an effort to solve the biggest obstacle ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
  • Conference Presentations
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This tab provides access to data collected through AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS). STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. STARS enables meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements developed with broad participation from the campus sustainability community.

All responses reference content from reports under the latest version of STARS, version 2.2. AASHE membership and log-in is required.

OP 11: Sustainable Procurement

OP 12: Electronics Purchasing

OP 13: Cleaning & Janitorial Purchasing

OP 14: Office Paper Purchasing

Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.

Purchasing Partners