Remember “It’s Not Easy Being Green,” the tune croaked by Kermit the Frog on Sesame Street? Turns out it’s a quandary many purchasing/procurement pros can relate to.

The drive for companies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions is building steam. Perhaps you’re familiar with the term that helps measure the impact a company’s greenhouse gas emissions makes: a carbon footprint.

So why is this of interest to you?

Experts estimate that 60% to 70% of a company’s carbon footprint is created by its supply chain. So in order to help reduce this, the focus turns to your supply chain.

Of course, nobody expects you to toss your current business practices into the compost heap and change everything overnight.

But there are a couple of tactics — subtle shifts in the normal course of business — that can help coax your supply chain closer to “keeping it green.”

A good place to begin is with your suppliers.

For instance:

• Do they evaluate their own suppliers on how they handle environmental matters?
• What is the supplier’s own track record, in terms of citations, clean-air violations, etc.?
• Does the supplier have a system for ensuring product processes are free of toxic substances and other materials that have the potential to hurt the environment?

Ultimately, it comes down to you to decide whether your supplier is “green” enough to meet your standards. At some companies, they’re happy to go “green”– as long as it doesn’t cost any more than it did before. This could make it more challenging for you, but it can be done.

There’s even a Web site that’s been created to provide advice and examples of “green” behavior:

www.greensupplychain.org

Tags: keeping it green, suppliers, supply chain