DES introduces green purchasing strategies and tools for governments

DES introduces green purchasing strategies and tools to help protect Washington’s environment, employees and citizens

Department of Enterprise Services (DES) published a Green Purchasing Guide that helps state agencies and other public entities in Washington contract for and purchase goods and services that minimize workplace hazards, conserve energy and water, protect natural resources and reduce waste.
The guide includes an overview of our state green purchasing regulations, checklists for identifying green products and boilerplate language for state contracts that incorporate green products and services. 

Examples of green purchases by state government include:

• Cleaning and janitorial products
• Energy-efficient electronics
• LED lights
• Traffic paint with low levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
• Recycled paper products
• Compostable utensils and dishware
• Electric vehicles for state fleets

Green purchasing is one part of the effort to implement Gov. Jay Inslee’s Executive Order 20-01, State efficiency and environmental performance (SEEP). The order requires DES to work with the state Department of Ecology to produce guidance and best practices for agencies to prioritize environmentally preferred purchasing. 

Let us know how it's working!

As you start to use the guide when working on procurements and purchases, please share your feedback with us. The guide’s intent is to make incorporating green products and services into solicitation and buying processes easier, so we are looking for what works, what doesn’t, successes, challenges or gaps. Please share your feedback or questions using the contact information below to help us improve the guide.