Buy green
Buying green means choosing products that cause less damage to the environment and human health
at all stages of their life including raw material extraction, production, use and disposal.
Green products include:
- recycled content products
- greenhouse friendly products: products that save energy and therefore reduce greenhouse gases, when compared to a similar product
- green power,
- green products: products that help save water when compared to a similar product, which are non-toxic or otherwise “green.”
How to buy green?
Search the ECO-Find directory and the Waste Wise Shopping Guide for a wide range of green products and their suppliers.
Visit the Ethical Consumer Guide website for information on green and socially responsible purchasing.
Consider the Lifecycle of the products you buy
Every product you buy has a lifecycle made up of stages which are:
- raw material extraction
- manufacturing
- transportation
- packaging
- use
- end of life disposal
Each stage of a product's lifecycle has a number of inputs including raw materials, energy and water as well as outputs including waste, greenhouse gas emissions and pollution. The inputs and outputs at each stage can be identified, measured and assessed for their environmental impacts. Understanding these impacts can help to make changes to reduce the impacts that occur across the life of a product.
When choosing a product it is important to consider the entire lifecycle of that product. What materials were mined to produce it? Where were they mined? Where was it assembled and how far has it travelled? How was it packaged? How long will it last? Was it designed to be repaired or disposed of? Can it be recycled when it reaches the end of its useful life?
To find out more visit The Secret Life of Things and The Story of Stuff online resources that expose the hidden environmental impacts of everyday items by exploring these lifecycle questions.
ECO-Buy
Moreland City Council has been a member of ECO-Buy since 2000. At the time, the program was called the “Local Government Buy Recycled Program”. Since joining Council has developed and adopted a Waste Wise Purchasing Policy which is currently under review.
Council spending on green products
As a member ECO-Buy, Council must report annually on green purchasing. The report is divided into sections including recycled content, greenhouse friendly and green. You can view expenditure by Councils statewide at the ECO-Buy website.
Council has been buying a range of green products over the years.
The paper used in photocopiers at Council's Civic Centres, libraries and Operations Centre is made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper. Other green products include mobile garbage, recycling and green waste bins (contain recycled plastic), crushed concrete, motion detectors, mulch and AAA urinal flushers.
View Council's 08/09 Progress Report (PDF 474Kb) (PDF 474Kb) prepared by ECO Buy. The report tracks Council's progress in comparison to past years and offers suggestions for continual improvement.
This year Council received a nomination for the Green Power Champion Award for our annual spend on Green Power.
Files
Links
- Eco-Buy
- Waste Wise Shopping Guide
- Ethical Consumer Guide
- The Secret Life of Things
- The Story of Stuff
