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Purchasing Goal

Environmental preferable purchasing (EPP) involves buying products that have a smaller environmental impact than comparable products. They may have a reduced manufacturing footprint such as recycled products, lower operating impact such as Energy Star® appliances, or a smaller disposal impact because of reduced packaging. The practice of computing the production, operation, and disposal costs and impacts - or life cycle assessment - is an important tool when making purchasing decisions so that the total cost of ownership is included.

Numerous environmentally-preferable purchasing practices for campus have been identified, and implementation has already begun. In line with UCOP policy, UC Berkeley recognizes the need to analyze and evaluate purchasing decisions based on full lifecycle costing or "cradle to cradle" supply chain management. The practice of computing the lifecycle cost - of production, operation, and disposal - is an important but information-intensive tool when making purchasing decisions.

$6.3 million of green purchasing in the past fiscal year

The campus purchased at least $6.3 million of environmentally-preferable products last year, and has increased the percentage of copy paper purchases that contain post-consumer waste to 81%. The campus continues to expand the number of green products it purchases and to incorporate sustainability criteria in its contracts.

Campus Introduces New Bear Buy Procurement System

Besides increasing the purchases of environmentally-preferable products, this new procurement system will also reduce campus paper usage by processing documents like purchase orders and invoices electronically. Concurrently, the campus will also develop a green purchasing policy. Working with PP-CS and Research Enterprises Services, Procurement Services will pilot a reusable bin delivery system for office supplies.

Cal Student Store Makes Green Additions

This year Cal Student Store – the one-stop-shop for Berkeley students – switched to “Green Books” made with 100 percent recycled paper (30 percent of it post-consumer waste), completely replacing its blue counterpart. To encourage sustainable practices, the store held a month-long raffle for customers who brought their own reusable shopping bag. They also now rent selected course texts, which will save students money and extend the useful life of a textbook by renting it over several years to multiple people.

Cal Dining Achieves Sustainable Seafood Certification

Five years after becoming the first university dining program in the country to earn organic certification, Cal Dining has again raised the sustainability bar and become the first public university to earn Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification. This “Chain of Custody” certification ensures that Cal Dining is purchasing seafood that sources back to a sustainable fishery. Working to promote the health of oceans and fish populations and reward fisheries that operate sustainably, MSC provides an ‘ecolabel’ which will soon appear on menus and at food stations in the Cal Dining commons.