ABOUT BUYING BETTER

Buying Better is an online purchasing tool that offers fully vetted products at a discount, making sustainable purchasing an easily accessible and financially smart thing to do. Buying Better…

Harnesses the purchasing power of its membership to make buying green products more affordable by providing the volume discounts most businesses would not be able to obtain on their own.

Provides users with product vetting expertise to ensure that the products you purchase through Buying Better will help you meet your sustainability goals, whether it is LEED certification or internal sustainability objectives.

Works with sustainably oriented vendors, including locally owned and MBE/WBE owned vendors, helping companies and organizations meet their diversity goals and support the local community.

The website is designed to help buyers quickly and easily identify products and services that will help them meet with sustainability goals.

THE VETTING PROCESS

There is a fundamental demand for green business products. Multiple factors are driving this need, including greater public awareness about the impacts of our consumption; local, state and federal legislation; and an increase in socially responsible corporate initiatives.

However, confusion abounds in the green marketplace. A recent report released by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing, entitled “The Seven Sins of Greenwashing,” found that of the 2219 products they surveyed, 98% of those products committed at least one greenwashing sin. Wading through multiple claims and trying to determine what is truly green versus what is greenwashing is difficult, time consuming and costly.

Buying Better offers a solution by providing an easy-to-use tool that helps purchasers quickly and easily identify green products that satisfy a wide range of needs, saving time and money.

As a program of the Delta Institute, Buying Better is uniquely qualified to perform product vetting. Delta Institute is a well-respected leader in the environmental movement, and our work in air and water pollution prevention, green purchasing, LEED certification, energy efficiency, and carbon reporting provides a comprehensive base of knowledge from which to vet products.

Products listed on the Buying Better website meet an already established and transparent standard, including U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification program, EPA’s Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines, or EPA’s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing standards. Rigorous verification of 3^rd party certifications for each and every product is crucial in the vetting process. Our process is transparent and we clearly indicate which standard a product relates to and why.

WHAT IS GREEN PURCHASING?

While much progress has been made through regulatory programs to reduce pollution from toxic chemicals, other pollution prevention strategies are needed to further reduce the amounts of these chemicals used and released into the environment.

Sustainable purchasing is an innovative approach to purchasing products and services that reflects fiscal responsibility, social equity, and community and environmental stewardship. Also known as green, responsible, or environmentally preferable purchasing, sustainable purchasing is a strategy that has been proven to reduce the burdens of those products on the environment and reduce waste.

Through their purchasing decisions, businesses are in a unique position to change the way their companies do business. Purchasing decisions can have a significant environmental and social impact. For example, every ton (40 cartons) of 100% post-consumer recycled content paper used saves 17 matures trees, reduces solid waste by over 1,000 pounds, and reduces air emissions by over 2,000 pounds. Recycling programs create jobs in the community while reducing solid waste, typically transported by truck, to local landfills. A company’s purchasing decisions affect both its bottom line and its environmental footprint.

We help companies, municipalities, and organizations to develop and implement sustainable purchasing programs by providing the following services:

strategic planning
policy development and implementation
research and technical assistance
training
measurement and verification
consortium or group purchasing opportunities

Many of our projects have linked purchasing with other organizational initiatives such as USGBC’s LEED certification, sustainability planning, or energy efficiency.

For more information about our services, please contact Kevin Dick, Director Certifications Program, at kdick@delta-institute.org or 312-554-0900, x 30

WHAT IS LEED?

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design™) is an internationally recognized green building certification system and a driving force for wider use of sustainable products and practices in the built environment. Designed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED aims to improve performance across energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reductions, indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. The Delta Institute assists building owners and managers with the process of certifying or re-certifying their buildings. Click here to see an example of Delta’s LEED services.

LEED certification is based on a 100-point system, divided into six major categories (Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Material & Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality and Innovation in Design). Each category is further broken down into various credit categories. Some credits are required (prerequisites) and others are optional. Each credit details how many points can be earned and what requirements must be met in order to earn those points, often referencing well-established and recognized standards such as ASHRAE and ASTM as well as third party certifications like Green Seal, Environmental Choice, Forest Stewardship Council, and EnergyStar.

For example, purchasing Green Seal-certified cleaning products can earn points towards LEED certification. When 30% (by dollar amount) of cleaning product purchases meet LEED sustainability criteria, the building can earn an Indoor Environmental Quality point under Credit 3.3: Green Cleaning Purchase of Sustainable Cleaning Products and Materials.

For more information on LEED for Existing Buildings, visit the following USGBC resources:
· LEED for Existing Buildings – Overview
· LEED for Existing Buildings: 2009 – Rating System (PDF)

THE DELTA INSTITUTE

Buying Better is a free resource developed by the Delta Institute, a nonprofit organization that creates, funds and implements programs that promote a healthy environment, a strong economy and thriving, vibrant communities. For over a decade, Delta Institute has helped individuals, organizations and communities demonstrate that building better economies and reforming our relationship with the environment go hand in hand.

Delta Institute is creating jobs by removing carbon from the atmosphere. We are helping businesses cut their costs by adopting green best practices, and we are transforming urban wastelands into vibrant, profitable marketplaces.

CONTACT US

Your questions and comments are always welcome.

Has Buying Better helped you meet your sustainability goals? We’d love to hear your success story.

Don’t see the product you’re interested in? Email us at buyingbetter@delta-institute.org and we will do our best to help you find it.

If you would like more information about our green purchasing consulting services, or other services provided by the Delta Institute, please contact Kevin Dick, Director Certifications Program, at kdick@delta-institute.org or 312-554-0900, x 30.