The sustainability of the way our suppliers operate their business.
Including sustainability criteria in our solicitation highlights the importance of sustainability issues to the County's core business and ensures that priority issues are addressed with suppliers from the start. Sustainability criteria can be incorporated into procurements to set both minimum performance standards that all vendors must meet and further optional criteria that they are encouraged to achieve.
From a financial standpoint, improved sustainability can lower costs through increased operating efficiency and reduced waste generation.
The following sections highlight some areas where we can prompt our suppliers to incorporate sustainability into their operations in general.
Environmental Factors
When providers are asked how they practice sustainability in their business on a day-to-day basis, their responses may cover one or any number of the following areas. Generally speaking, the higher the number of practices the supplier follows and the more detail the supplier can provide, the more likely it is that the vendor takes sustainability seriously. This list should not be considered all-inclusive, and the bullets after each identify examples of appropriate buyer considerations.
Energy conservation: Consider practices such as:
- Development of an energy conservation plan and goals,
- Use of checklists and tracking methods including bill monitoring,
- Citing actual performance results,
- Efforts to communicate with and educate employees on energy conservation, and/or
- Use of recognized certification standards (i.e., ISO 14000, Energy Star, etc.).
- Energy conservation methods can include appliances, light fixtures, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC), and/or general building operations.
Renewable energy use:
- Vendor’s investigation, plan development, and purchase or installation of renewable energy.
- Renewable energy may include solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, hydroelectric and/or other types. The vendor should indicate whether it is obtained through Grid Delivery or Renewable Energy Credits.
Water conservation:
- Development of a water conservation management plan and goals,
- Use of a water conservation checklist and tracking procedures including bill monitoring,
- Use of efficient water fixtures,
- Efforts to communicate with and educate employees on water conservation, and/or
- Water conservation performance.
- The water conservation program may include measures in conserving restroom water, kitchen water and/or grounds keeping practices.
Waste reduction and recycling:
- Development of a waste reduction and recycling plan,
- Documented goals, baseline measures, and tracking mechanisms,
- Efforts to communicate with and educate employees about waste reduction plans, recycling methods, and instructions, as well as
- Results reporting among other things.
- Waste reduction and recycling may include any one or a combination of the following: waste to landfill (garbage); mixed recyclables (metal, paper, and plastic); glass recycling; e-waste including electronic hardware, batteries, and office supplies; furniture recycling; and composting of yard or food waste.
Fossil fuel / alternative transportations usage:
- Flexible commuting options and incentives,
- Green travel and parking options,
- Purchase or conversion of alternative fuel or advanced battery vehicles,
- Fleet maintenance programs, and/or
- Route Optimization.
Purchasing: Consider descriptions of policies or practices surrounding:
- Durable versus disposable goods,
- Products composed of post-consumer recycled materials,
- Recycled products and vendor take-back programs,
- Procedures to maximize packaging materials and the use of recyclable packaging,
- Toxics reduction,
- Energy efficient product alternatives, and/or
- Environmentally friendly certified products (i.e., Ecologo, GreenSeal, Rainforest Alliance, etc.).
- Social Sustainability Factors (fair trade, sweatshop-free, benefits, community engagement)
Social Factors
Fair trade: Consider vendor actions such as:
- Fair price and prompt payment to suppliers,
- Work with economically disadvantaged or socially marginalized producers, and/or
- Use of ecologically sustainable production methods in consideration of workers’ health.
Fair labor: Consider vendor actions such as:
- Paying employees equal to or better than the Federal minimum wage,
- Affirmative action regarding the treatment of employees without regard or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin or physical handicap,
- Actions that demonstrate concern for employee health, safety, and well-being, and/or
- Abiding by other requirements as established by the Fair Labor Standards Act and Oregon labor and employment law.
Community engagement: Support for low-income communities and communities of color such as:
- Donations and grants,
- Employee volunteer hours,
- Public education campaigns,
- Event sponsorships, and/or
- An example of using the power of the vendor’s brand, business, or employees to deepen connections with low-income communities or communities of color.
For more information:
Multnomah County Purchasing keeps a library of RFP language and other sample proposal language on hand for a variety of goods and services.
Ask your Purchasing contact to share with your language appropriate for your procurement or visit the webpage here.