By: Elizabeth Bruns, Nicole Darnall, Kylie Flynn, Angela Fox

Government purchasing in Mexico accounts for 27.9% of its gross domestic product. Examples of purchases include vehicle fleets, construction materials, chemicals, electronics, and office materials. Collectively, these items contribute to global climate change and a host of other environmental concerns during manufacturing and while in use. In response, local Mexican municipalities are implementing green purchasing policies to reduce the environmental impacts of these purchases.

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By: Elizabeth Bruns, Nicole Darnall, Kylie Flynn, Angela Fox

Government purchasing accounts for 27.9% of Mexico's gross domestic product. Examples of purchases include vehicle fleets, construction materials, chemicals, electronics, and office materials. These items collectively contribute to global climate change and a host of other environmental concerns during manufacturing and while in use. In response, some Mexican municipalities have implemented green purchasing policies to help reduce the environmental impacts associated with these purchases.

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By: Elizabeth Bruns, Nicole Darnall, Kylie Flynn, Angela Fox

Government purchasing accounts for 27.9% of Mexico's gross domestic product. Examples of purchases include vehicle fleets, construction materials, chemicals, electronics, and office materials. These purchases collectively contribute to global climate change and a host of other environmental concerns when manufactured and while in use.

Some Mexican municipalities have implemented green purchasing policies to address the environmental impacts associated with government purchasing. A sustainable purchasing policy formalizes an organization's commitment to reduce the environmental harms related to purchasing. These policies can also improve municipalities' internal efficiencies, thus enhancing cost savings. 

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By: Elizabeth Bruns, Nicole Darnall, Kylie Flynn, Angela Fox

In 2001, Japan's Ministry of Environment partnered with the Japanese Green Purchasing Network to create a "green product database" to help sub-national governments pursue sustainable purchasing. Municipal governments are encouraged to adopt green purchasing and have this database as a resource to guide their endeavors.Government purchases in Japan account for 19.8% of the gross domestic product. Examples of these items include vehicle fleets, construction materials, chemicals, electronics, and office materials. Collectively, they contribute to global climate change and other environmental concerns.

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By:

Elizabeth Bruns, Nicole Darnall, Kylie Flynn, Angela Fox

Japanese governmental purchases account for 19.8% of its gross domestic product. These purchases include vehicle fleets, construction materials, chemicals, electronics, and office materials, to name a few. Collectively, these purchases are significant contributors to global climate change and other environmental concerns. Green purchasing policies are one way that Japan can significantly curb environmental impacts while stimulating the global demand for green products and services. For this reason, Japan's national government has developed guidelines for "green" or environmentally conscious purchasing.

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By: Elizabeth Bruns, Nicole Darnall, Kylie Flynn, Angela Fox

In Japan, sustainable purchasing policies are required at the national and federal level. To assist, Japan’s Ministry of Environment has developed guidelines for "green" or environmentally conscious purchasing. At the municipal level, however, anecdotal evidence suggests that implementation is inconsistent, which means they are missing important opportunities to improve the environment.

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: October 15, 2020.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Nicole Darnall: School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, 875502 Tempe, AZ, USA

Prof. Justin M. Stritch: Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, Arizona State University, 85004, Phoenix, AZ, USA

Prof. Stuart Bretschneider: Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, Arizona State University, 85004, Phoenix, AZ, USA

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Led by Nicole Darnall, associate dean and professor of public policy and management in Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability, students in SOS/PAF 545: Organizations, Sustainability and Public Policy have partnered with the City of Tempe to assist the city as it considers implementing a sustainable purchasing policy (SPP) to help it achieve its ambitious Climate Action Goals.

As part of the partnership, students from the class have spent the fall semester conducting research and working with the city’s procurement department staff and vendors to address four questions that would help the city think through its options as it considers how it might adopt an SPP:

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Justin Stritch, co-founder of the Sustainable Purchasing Research Initiative and senior sustainability scholar in the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, recently won the Outstanding Early Career Scholar Award from the Center for Organization Research and Design.

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The National Academy of Public Administration has inducted Nicole Darnall, associate dean and professor in Arizona State University's School of Sustainability, into its 2019 class of fellows. Darnall is one of eight NAPA fellows from ASU. An induction into NAPA is one of the highest honors of a public administration official.

Established by Congress in 1967, the nonpartisan NAPA conducts work for federal cabinet departments and agencies, aiming to “improve governance and advance the field of public administration,” by focusing on intergovernmental evaluation, financial management, strategic planning, organization assessment, performance management and human capital.

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In the Fall 2018 semester, ASU Project Cities convened 47 Arizona State University students across five classes to collaborate with the City of Glendale on three unique community development projects. Following a fulfilling semester, the PC team is excited to share the completion of our Project Summary Reports which document the experience and provide a digestible, action-oriented guide to the high level strategies and recommendations posed by our students.

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Members of Arizona State University’s Sustainable Purchasing Research Initiative team won the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council’s Outstanding Case Award for their case study “Environmental Purchasing in the City of Phoenix.”

The case study by Stuart Bretschneider, Justin Stritch, Lily Hsueh and Nicole Darnall, co-founder of the SPRI, pinpoints both the facilitators and challenges of implementing an environmental purchasing policy (EPP). It also offers eight recommendations for how cities like Phoenix can integrate an EPP more fully into their existing purchasing processes.

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For almost 20 years, the Ministry of the Environment in Japan has tried to get local municipalities to adopt green purchasing policies (GPP), to mixed results. Last year, Arizona State University’s Sustainable Purchasing Research Initiative collaborated with Waseda University’s Research Institute for Environmental Economics and Management (RIEEM) to determine why.

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From low-carbon systems and LEED-certified building construction to water and land conservation techniques, there are many ways to promote and practice sustainability within the community. While it can be easier said than done to implement these things, one Arizona State University class did just that through Project Cities. Led by Nicole Darnall, associate dean and professor of public policy and management in Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability, students in SOS/PAF 545: Organizations, Sustainability & Public Policy are working to create a more sustainable future in the Valley.

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Arizona State University’s Sustainable Purchasing Research Initiative (SPRI) is collaborating with the United States Environmental Protection Agency to launch a website that makes it easier for companies looking to make environmentally conscious purchases.

Sustainablepurchasing.issuelab.org is a searchable database that contains a trove of information on research articles that discuss “servicing,” a popular sustainability concept that has received a stamp of approval from the United Nations Environmental Programme.

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To help organizations interested in eco-friendly purchasing, ASU's Sustainable Purchasing Research Initiative is partnering with the Environmental Protection Agency on sustainablepurchasing.issuelab.org.

The website features a searchable database of research articles related to the concept of “servicizing,” which promotes a more environmentally responsible way for businesses, nonprofits, governments and individuals to meet their purchasing needs.

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A team of researchers at Arizona State University have launched a project to make it easier for cities to “buy green.”

The “Advancing Green Purchasing in Local Governments” initiative is based on a survey of more than 600 government officials representing 459 cities. To construct the survey, the researchers met with 14 purchasing officers from the City of Phoenix and used their feedback to compile the questions that would be asked. An analysis of the survey results then led the experts to generate several actionable recommendations that would help city officials increase their eco-friendly purchases. The plan is to broadcast the recommendations in a wide marketing push that will reach thousands of local governments nationwide.

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As local governments step to the forefront of sustainability commitment-making, a team of Arizona State University researchers – including School of Sustainability Professor Nicole Darnall – launch a project aimed at making it easier for cities to “buy green."

Called the Sustainable Purchasing Research Initiative, the project was informed by survey responses from 616 government officials from 459 cities. The responses led the ASU team to create eight real-world recommendations that can be used by city officials considering environmentally-friendly products – from light bulbs to carpeting.

The tips will be disseminated in a marketing blast that will reach thousands of local governments nationwide.

Arizona State University’s School of Public Affairs is collaborating with the City of Phoenix to help the city make more environmentally friendly purchases to reduce its impact.

The team of faculty members and researchers, led by Nicole Darnall — a senior sustainability scholar in the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, associate dean of the School of Sustainability, and co-founder and team leader of the Sustainable Purchasing Research Initiative — conducted focus group interviews with city procurement specialists to identify the obstacles that had stalled the plan to implement the city’s Environmental Procurement Policy. They found that there were organizational barriers in how purchasing is managed across city departments and trade-offs between purchasing criteria that compete with more eco-friendly options.

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Wanting to lessen its impact on the environment, the City of Phoenix decided to explore ways to make more eco-friendly purchasing decisions. Sustainability experts Nicole Darnall and Lily Hsueh were among the half-dozen ASU faculty to help them.

The ASU team assessed opportunities for purchasing improvements by conducting focus group interviews with city procurement specialists. After identifying complex organizational barriers and trade-offs, the team provided eight recommendations that will help Phoenix advance its 2050 environmental sustainability goals.

“By engaging city officials, our team was able to address one of the city's concerns — how it can further integrate environmental considerations into its purchasing processes,” said Darnall, the principal investigator. “At the same time, we developed a better understanding about sustainable procurement, advanced our research ideas, and engaged teams of graduate students in project-based learning. This project created wins for everyone.”