Does Buying Green Make a Difference?

When you consider that just in the last few years the world has seen a dramatic increase in public eco awareness, specifically in ‘green’ consumer knowledge, it is no wonder why there have been so many changes on market shelves.

At the PEW Center for Climate Change's Energy Efficiency Conference held in Chicago last April, one of the plenary session speakers stated a remarkable statistic. Only 8% of what you DO is sustainable -- the other 92% is in the supply chain -- in other words, what you BUY. So in essence, your eco actions add up but the products you purchase really add up because of the cascade affect in a sustainable businesses supply chain.

The growing focus on Supply Chain Management (SCM) as a strategic function within the organization has proven to be opportunity to reduce cost and add value to the bottom line. The recent emergence of sustainable supply chain management provides the opportunity to leverage this progress from an added perspective. Mainstream thinking is just beginning to incorporate expanding eco awareness to include the role of social and environmental responsibility in supply chain value creation.

However, in recent months, a number of corporate giants like IBM and P&G have announced new initiatives that pressure suppliers to do much more to measure and manage their environmental impacts. With water, carbon, and energy management becoming a critical sustainable business strategy to address internal and external supply issues, businesses addressing these areas are creating supply chain management alignment through increased eco awareness, cooperative business relationships, and applied sustainability concepts that can have immediate business impacts and reduce business sustainability risk.

So, yes, buying green does make a difference. As a consumer, you can vote with your dollar for sustainable change.