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Eco-labels on products must meet stringent criteria:
Green purchasing for a better tomorrow
Ajith de Alwis
The world is at a stage where rapid phase of some of our developments
are in conflict with nature. The tsunami wrecked havoc in Japan but with
the Nuclear Power station disabled as a result of the same incident has
now created a real issue across the entire region.
It appears at times that we have to apologize to ecology over
technology that we have created.
Again we are witnessing interesting supply chains where the fat
removed after liposuction is recycled in making biscuits with the
intention of feeding the hungry elsewhere! Talk about solutions to food
security and beauty! Learners may inherit the earth according to Eric
Hoffer yet what we must now understand is the dire need to change some
of our behaviors and let us start that with purchasing.
It is important that we ask few questions when contemplating a
purchasing. More systematic and competitive procurement process may
include the same set of questions.
The questions are quite straight forward and follow from the
principles of Green Procurement.
They are
* Where does it come from?
* How is it disposed of?
* Will it last?
* Can I fix it?
* Do I really need it?
Individuals can practice this and the process can move upwards as a
national policy. UK, EU, China, Japan, USA are strong examples where
such practices have entered as national policies. In the UK government's
green procurement strategy it is defined as a process whereby
organisations meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities
in a way that achieves value for money on a whole life basis in terms of
generating benefits not only to the organisation, but also to society
and the economy, whilst minimising damage to the environment. These
countries and regions do have national green procurement strategies. In
many ways these drive Buy local concepts as is seen with calculating
food miles. We certainly must be aware of what we need and from where we
are getting them.
If there are decent quality substitutes available locally then the
choice had be made in buying local ! Green Procurement supports Green
Jobs and enable regional economic development if vigourously pursued.
The simple explanation is in addition to the usual components of
cost, quality and delivery the whole aspect of environment too has
entered into the equation. In this way the purchasing has turned Green !
One can say this is challenging and people and processes need to change.
Walking the talk is not quite easy in some areas but if one does and
small changes are made in thousand places BIG changes can happen in a
while.
The process is made easy when there are goods and services with
certified eco labels again an aspect Sri Lanka need to address fast.
Today one can observe many green labels in use in many countries. The
Germans use Blue Angel and Energy Star is used in USA.
The award of an eco-label must meet stringent criteria and should not
be based on empty rhetoric. This calls for organizations to understand
resource use, environmental performance in a more detailed manner.
Let us start small and change fast and grow big in this way. The
planet will definitely benefit along with our economy. |
