Supporting local businesses can reduce the environmental impacts of shipping goods long distances. It can provide more transparency about product ingredients and services, and offer more control over supply chains in addition to the other social benefits, including increasing local tax revenue, jobs, infrastructure, economic diversification, equity, and community resilience. Goals will vary depending on regional production of goods.
Proposed procurement goals:
- Conduct assessment to determine availability of local sources for municipal purchases
- Set goals for local product and service procurement, for example:
- 95% of remanufactured toner cartridges are purchased through local vendors
- At least 30% of direct purchases of food served in municipal facilities is locally grown and organic (where local food production is possible)
- Note: Resources to use to develop your own percentage: USDA Trends in US Local and Regional Food Systems and 2019 Locavore Index
Public policy:
- Support provided for innovative local businesses to re-localize production where appropriate.
Case studies:
- Recycling and localizing PPE production would have significantly reduced greenhouse gases in a study of the National Health Service in the UK, according to a new report in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
- Cleveland, OH’s Local and Sustainable Purchasing Ordinance provides a 2-4% bid preference for companies that source products locally and/or are certified as a sustainable business. RPN
- The City of Edmonton, AB, Canada contributed 25% of the financing to create an innovative recycling facility that collects waste paper and linen (100% cotton materials) products from City offices, residents and hotels and achieves “closed loop recycling” by processing it into recycled paper products for sale back to the City and other clients. At full capacity, 100 jobs were created at the facility. More than 100 local companies are now providing paper and used cotton fabric (e.g., clothing and sheets) to the facility and have also committed to ‘joining the loop’ by purchasing products from Greys. The City is receiving a share of the profits. King County, WA saves over $500,000 every year by using remanufactured toner cartridges and supports local business by doing so. RPN
- San Jose, CA’s 2012 Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy (EP3) directs City departments to “ensure that at least 30% of direct purchases of food served in City facilities is locally grown and organic.” To meet this goal, the City has prioritized adding purchasing specifications and reporting requirements to its contracts for produce, dairy products, and other food commodities. RPN
- Los Angeles, CA’s Good Food Purchasing Pledge promotes the City’s procurement of local and sustainably produced food products. RPN