Week One

This week began the project for the summer. It was more of an informal meeting with Mr. Bruskotter at a local coffee shop in which we discussed the details of the project as well as some of the new knowledge he gained at Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council's Summit of 2016. He used the details of the summit to tie into the main objectives of the project. One of these objectives was to find green versions of the city's purchases. This would be done through the process of benchmarking. Benchmarking is the process comparing business procedures alongside the industry's best standards. Most of this research will be conducted through the program of Planet Bids. This takes into consideration the entirety of the supply chain from manufacturing to purchasing and all the processes in between.

At the conference, Mr. Bruskotter was informed about the new standards in which the USEPA is trying to encourage amongst the business sector. Upon further research, I found that these new recommendations only pertain to the purchasing categories of construction, custodial, electronics, grounds and landscaping, office and operations regarding fleet, shipping, and shop. Mr. Bruskotter also shared relevant information regarding the new sustainability standard presented by NSF. This sector specific solution regards the acronym of SEE and the 3C's. SEE stands for Social, Environmental, and Economic while the three C's are convergence, commitment and collaboration, and consensus. These sections have various types of prerequisites which take different factors of the business's key performance indicators. These are the measurement of a business' success.