9Purchasing—Using Your Dollarto Save the Planet

The greatest impact companies can have is often not what they do, but what they buy and where they buy it. This chapter deals with what to buy, where to buy, who to buy from, and how to buy to ensure sustainability.

The most important message in this chapter is that you have enormous power to do good by choosing how you spend your money, whom you spend it with, and what you spend it on. And if you believe that you are too small to make a difference or to be able to influence your vendors’ environmental practices, you are just plain wrong. The eight rules for sustainability purchasing will show you how.

Rule 1—You Are Responsible

First of all, let’s get very clear about responsibilities and boundary ...

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