By Jane Garcia

No matter how hard you try does there always ends up being some mouldy green thing in the back of your refrigerator that might have started life as a fruit or vegetable? Or do you find yourself buying yet another bottle of conditioner when you already have two or three at home?

You’re not alone. Over consumption is a huge issue we face in Australia, according to the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation, Sustainable Programs Division’s Richard Birdsey.

“The Australia Institute came up with some very interesting statistics calculating that about $10.5 billion worth of goods and services are wasted each year across Australia,” he says.

“Government needs to show leadership in this area because the community is becoming more concerned about health and environmental impacts of over consumption and over production.”

For about seven years Mr Birdsey has worked in the Sustainable Programs Division looking at green products and how to harness purchasing process sustainably.

He says governments need to show leadership in this area because the community is becoming more concerned about the health and environmental impacts of over consumption and over production.

“Given that government purchasing power is huge, just in good and services alone, so that power can be harnessed to move markets towards becoming more sustainable,” Mr Birdsey says.

“We can often get whole of government policies in place a whole lot quicker and more effectively than the private sector.

 “We have numerous case studies where the efficiency of an organisation has improved with sustainable purchasing, things like improved OHS compliance if you’re buying less toxic products, healthier work environments are nicer places to work leading to greater staff satisfaction, retentions and productivity.”

He says there is a high level of awareness among the NSW public sector of the important benefits of sustainable purchasing, but that competing issues can sometimes impede changes in purchasing.

The first challenge is often in defining what sustainability means to the organisation and determining what it means to becoming a sustainable organisation in terms of targets and stretch goals relevant to that group.

“Procurement professionals are often under a lot of pressure to keep costs down and buy more with less,” Mr Birdsey says.

“People will say ‘yes, I agree sustainability is important but it’s just a lower priority in a whole list of things’. So it’s about saying how can we incorporate sustainability in a realistic way?”

The NSW Government’s Sustainability Procurement Program has put together a website resource to assist the public sector incorporate sustainability principles into purchasing decision making. It can be found at www.greengoods.nsw.gov.au

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NSW Department of Environment and Conservation, Sustainable Programs Division’s Richard Birdsey says there are many public sector organisations coming up with interesting and innovative approaches to sustainable procurement. We’d like to share your experience with other public sector procurement professionals. Contact us on 02 9660 2113 or email: jane@intermedia.com.au