ISU Purchasing's role in sustainability

ISU Purchasing’s role is to support campus wide sustainability through the communications of guidelines, information, and by providing resources that will minimize any negative impact on society and the environment to the greatest extent possible.

ISU Purchasing is developing and maintaining information on our web site about environmentally and socially preferable products and services and will communicate, to the various departments, University policy in regards to sustainability.

We will promote the three R’s: reduce, reuse, and recycle.  Purchasing & Central Receiving manages all surplus items at the University.  From inception we have relocated reusable items back out on campus, as items have become available. For at least the last fifteen years we have hosted auctions where we sell items no-longer of use to the University.  The result has been to reduce the disposal costs and landfill volume and the auctions extend the useful life of items through their reuse.  Additionally, we recycle items that might have little appeal in the auction.

Purchasing encourages the use of durable and reusable products, giving some weight to the best long-term value when selecting products. 

Purchasing will be looking at the various vendors’ abilities to receive their products back for recycling at the end of their useful life.  Examples being: carpeting, asphalt, oil, batteries, electronics, and toner cartridges.

Procurement in bulk or concentrated form will be encouraged in an effort to minimize our impact on transportation resources.

ISU Purchasing has begun to encourage the broader long term view in the procurement of items such as printers, copiers, and fax machines that have the capability of duplex printing and the ability to cut paper consumption in half.

ISU Purchasing encourages the sending and storing of documents electronically, again saving on paper usage.

ISU Purchasing would encourages the use of hybrid and alternative renewable fuel vehicles, the generation of renewable energy sources, energy efficient “Energy Star” rated electronics, and energy efficient Leeds certified buildings.

ISU Purchasing is making every effort to secure contracts with vendors that are socially and environmentally conscientious and certified green whenever possible.