Nowadays, the growing environmental concerns have triggered the federal government to formulate laws which requires federal agencies to purchase goods which do not pose some environmental hazard.
One of the laws that require purchasing of environment friendly product is The Executive Order 12873 on Federal Acquisition, Recycling and Waste Prevention. The law gives preference to procure goods and services that emits less pollution, can be recycled or reused, and most of all, it must lived up to its billing as environmentally clean. There are some products which have been labeled as environmentally friendly, but when examined closely, they contain hazardous materials. Suppliers must never overlook the fact that Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is on the look out of these goods they are supplying.
It was estimated that the US Government spend at most $300 Billion dollars this fiscal year in buying good and services. With the growing environmental consciousness and the formulation of statutory laws which mandates preferential buying in green products, green businesses find its demand in the government as well as some faire share of the government’s budget in green purchasing.
For those who are not so much familiar on how can one knew if such product is environmentally friendly, here are some criterion to assess your product if they are classified as green products:
1. Consumes Less Energy
The major concerns, nowadays, is the efficiency of energy. This is due to the fact the oil prices are continually on the rise in the world market and the growing percentage of carbon dioxide emitted by some power plants and vehicles. One of samples of energy efficient products is fluorescent lamp. A fluorescent lamp consumes less electricity compared to incandescent bulb but lights efficiently.
The rise of some hybrid cars has also prompted car manufacturers to make more cars which consumes less gasoline and emits less smoke. Honda has made some revolutionary steps in its fuel by making hydrogen as its main burning component for one of its models. The result is an emission of water instead which makes this model very environmentally friendly. It was estimated that the government will try to replace cars that are hybrid and consumes fuel efficiently in all its agencies.
2. Less Toxic Content
Toxic contents like the Volatile Organic Compounds in the paint are found to be very hazardous to human health. For this reason, some manufacturers are advised to reduce its VOC or by replacing some of it into a less volatile and toxic one.
Another example of a hazardous chemical is chlorine. Chlorine is used in bleaching paper in order to make it whiter. Chlorine has also been found to pose threats to environment when disposed. To counter such environmental threats, some manufacturers adopted a chlorine free paper. Although these chlorine-free papers are not as whiter as those which are bleached, nevertheless, the environmental impact has been considered greatly. The next time you use some paper, see to it that it is environmentally friendly
3. Less Waste
One of the growing environmental concerns is the limited sanitary landfill. Burning some of them contributes pollution instead. With this concern, manufacturers are advised to produce goods which are biodegradable and if not recyclable. Biodegradable materials can be easily buried in one’s compost pit and those which are recyclable can be reused again. For this reason, waste materials in sanitary landfills will be lessened.
For suppliers who have not considered in going green, perhaps, it’s about time to reconsider the manufacturing cycle to produce more green products. With increasing consciousness on the care of environment, shifting to green manufacturing will insure one’s business to last long as people will prefer more in buying green products.
