assignment_turned_in Policy

Responsible Purchasing

Stanford Procurement Services is committed to the university’s value of sustaining life on earth, including specific commitments to achieve net zero carbon emissions in university operations by 2050 and zero waste by 2030, among others. Responsible purchasing is a key component to achieving these goals, and these guidelines are meant to advise, guide and support university purchasers and suppliers to act responsibly when involved in purchasing activities at Stanford.

Responsible Purchasing is the acquisition of goods and services that meet the business and research needs of the consumer while also being environmentally-friendly, socially responsible, and ethically-sourced. The purpose of these guidelines is to support and facilitate the purchase of products and materials that minimize the harmful effects from their production, transportation, use, and disposition. It is Stanford's preference to purchase and use environmentally and socially responsible goods and services whenever they perform satisfactorily and can be acquired at similar total value, such as compatibility, quality, service, support, continuity, etc. The policy applies to all Stanford University purchasers and suppliers. 

Stanford Procurement Services, purchasers, and suppliers all play a role in minimizing any negative impacts on society, human health, and the environment, while also meeting various business requirements. The following table provides an overview of these roles and responsibilities: 

RoleResponsibility
Procurement Services
  • Partner with the Office of Sustainability, other stakeholders, and schools and units to develop and implement responsible purchasing solutions that meet the needs of the university.
  • Promote the use of environmentally preferable products, practices, and suppliers.
  • Support programs such as Cardinal Print that focus on high-volume, high-impact solutions to purchasing needs.
  • Provide data across spend categories that inform buying decisions and measures efforts toward the university's goals.
Purchasers
  • Adhere to the responsible purchasing guidance whenever possible.
Suppliers
  • Adhere to the responsible purchasing guidance at a competitive value.
  • Conduct business in accordance with published guidance and policies.

Stanford purchasers should consider these questions when making a purchase, which support a cumulative total value depending on the outcomes of the consideration. 

Aspect of the purchasing processConsiderations
Planning the purchase
  • Is the good or service really necessary?
  • Must it be new, or can an existing good or service be reused/repurposed to fulfill the need?
  • How will the good be disposed of? Is it recyclable, reusable, compostable, or biodegradable?
Selecting a supplier
  • Does the supplier of the good or service have its own sustainability and/or greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals?
  • Is the supplier’s organization supporting social responsibility goals, for example: employing a diverse workforce, or certified as a diverse supplier?
  • Under what conditions was the good manufactured? For instance, were fair and ethical labor practices used in the manufacturing process or supply chain?
Selecting the goods
  • Is the good energy efficient compared to its competition?
  • Are the packaging components recyclable? (At Stanford, cardboard and thin film plastic are recyclable; Styrofoam is not).
  • What material is the good made of?
  • What negative upstream or downstream effects might this good or service have?
  • How will the goods or service be transported or delivered? Will travel be involved?

To support responsible purchasing at the university, Stanford Procurement Services provides guidance by purchasing category:

Travel
For many individuals, emissions from travel comprise the largest portion of their personal carbon footprint. At Stanford, emissions from collective student, faculty, staff and visitor travel equate to more than four times the university’s direct emissions from fuel burned on campus. Individuals traveling on university business have several options to reduce their travel footprint. For example, individuals can consider attending conferences and events virtually if there is not a need to be there in person, select the lowest emissions option if the airline or Stanford Travel booking channel displays carbon estimates in flight searches, take the most direct route when flying (nonstop flight), and utilize public transportation when traveling on behalf of Stanford. 

Paper
All purchases of paper products, including both office and janitorial, should either be made from 100 percent recycled content or be Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified. Products made from recycled paper not only prevent trees from being cut down, but also require up to 30 percent less energy and 50 percent less water to produce than non-recycled paper.

Office and Break Room Supplies
Many office products (e.g., binders, pens, staplers, etc.) are disposed of before reaching the end of their useful life. Therefore, Stanford personnel should first check to see if the need can be fulfilled with reused items. Consider checking the Reuse website or posting to email lists to find the office supplies you need before buying new ones.

Because office supplies are highly consumable, the most important sustainability aspect is keeping used materials out of the landfill, through the purchase of products that are recyclable or compostable and made with recycled content.

Break room supplies include service ware, such as cups, plates and utensils, accounting for a high level of waste and negative impact to the environment. Reusable service ware is the most responsible purchasing option. If disposable service ware is required, BPA certified compostable items should be purchased. Compostable items turn into soil in 45 days at a commercial composting facility.

Lab Supplies
Reusable options for lab consumables, such as pipette tips and boxes, gloves, media bottles, etc. are becoming more available and are often less expensive. For example, instead of purchasing new pipette tip boxes every time, one can reuse the boxes and purchase refillable tip racks, which are up to 70 percent cheaper. The Cardinal Green Labs program hosts a lab share event every fall and spring to facilitate reuse between labs. For supplies that cannot be reused, labs should purchase recyclable options where available and arrange for used items to be dropped off for recycling at key locations on campus.

Chemicals
Before purchasing new chemicals, purchasers should check with Stanford's Surplus Chemical Inventory. Through this program, Environmental Health and Safety (EH and S) delivers free chemicals to labs within 24 hours. Purchasers and lab managers are encouraged to use Stanford’s Chemical Inventory Management and Tracking System, ChemTracker, which ensures good inventory management practices and can lead to cost savings from avoiding duplicate purchases.

Electronic Equipment
Purchases of electronic equipment should be EPEAT certified. EPEAT is the most comprehensive sustainability certification for IT equipment (e.g., computers, monitors, TVs) evaluating a number of different attributes, including materials sourcing, environmental safety during production, energy consumption, and end of life. A laptop computer that is EPEAT certified uses 42 percent less energy, contains 25 percent more recycled content, and contains 89 percent less toxic metals than a non-EPEAT computer. In the past few years, 100 percent of Stanford’s electronics purchased through its major suppliers have been EPEAT certified. EPEAT provides model contract language that can be included in requests for proposals.

Non-IT equipment purchases should be Energy Star certified. Energy Star is the most robust and prevalent sustainability certification for non-IT equipment. The certification is given to the most energy efficient models in each equipment category. Purchasing Energy Star will ensure that the equipment’s energy consumption and carbon footprint is as low as possible during use.

Furniture
As furniture is often disposed of before reaching the end of its useful life, when purchasing furniture, Stanford personnel should first check the Stanford Reuse website to see if the need can be fulfilled with reused items.

New furniture sourced for Stanford should not include toxic chemicals. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, there are over 80,000 chemicals in use today, most are unregulated and only some have undergone sufficient health testing. Many of these toxic chemicals end up in furniture, specifically: Flame retardants, Polyvinyl Chloride, Volatile Organic Compounds, Fluorinated Chemicals, and Antimicrobials. Recent research clearly links these chemicals to adverse health effects including cancer, interference with the hormone system, impairments to neurological development, and reproductive harm. The Consumer Product Safety Commission claims that removing flame retardants and other chemicals does not compromise fire safety.

Stanford Procurement Services has partnered with Sustainable Stanford to provide the following preferred tools and resources to support purchasing of sustainable products.

  • When purchasing goods, use Preferred Purchasing Methods, such as Amazon Business, which has the following built-in features to support responsible purchasing: 
    • Look for items with the Climate Pledge Friendly label. This label denotes items that are certified through one or more reputable, transparent, external sustainability certification programs. Examples include the Forest Stewardship Council and EPEAT. Search results can be filtered to show only products with this label.
    • Select the Amazon Day delivery option to consolidate deliveries to one day per week and reduce the number of trips required to deliver items. 
    • Choose the Frustration-Free Packaging option whenever it’s offered to reduce the use of additional and unnecessary packaging materials. Search results can be filtered to show only products that meet this criteria.
  • Visit the Office of Sustainability’s purchasing page to access more tools and resources to support responsible purchasing. 
  • Learn more about Scope 3 Emissions from Purchased Goods and Services
  • Review the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guiding principles, which include:
    • Include environmental considerations as part of the normal purchasing process
    • Emphasize pollution prevention early in the purchasing process
    • Examine multiple environmental attributes and costs throughout a product or service's life cycle
    • Compare relevant environmental impacts when selecting products and services
    • Collect accurate and meaningful information about environmental performance and use it to make purchasing decisions

For many individuals, emissions from travel comprise the largest portion of their personal carbon footprint. At Stanford, emissions from collective student, faculty, and staff travel are equivalent to the annual energy use of nearly 20,000 homes.

Here are some tips for traveling more sustainably.

  • Consider attending conferences and events virtually if you do not need to be there in person
  • Fly economy instead of business class
  • Take nonstop flights! If a nonstop flight is not available from your primary airport, consider expanding your search to other nearby airports.
  • If your airline or search engine provides carbon estimates in flight searches, pick the lowest emissions option!
  • If you need to take multiple trips to nearby destinations, try to combine them into a single trip with multiple legs.
  • Take the train whenever possible. Amtrack has a station in San Jose with train routes to many California and western state destinations.
  • Consider sustainable driving options. While driving alone may not be more efficient than flying, if you drive with a friend going to the same place or use an electric vehicle, it definitely reduces emissions!
  • Pack light! The more weight you add to the plane, the more you increase carbon emissions!
  • Carpool, take public transportation, or consider rideshare options to get to the airport. Reference these maps for public transit directions from main campus to SFOSJC, and OAK
  • If you’re a student, consider staying on campus during breaks and over the summer and explore Bay Area professional opportunities and activities.

More information is available in the Business and Travel Expenses overview. For important updates about infectious diseases, travel warnings, and other public health issues, please visit Travel Health Alerts before booking travel.

Last Updated: Jan 21, 2025

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