Government of Canada

The Government of Canada is one institution that has taken some specific steps to define its institutional buying criteria under the general label Green Procurement (is this used elsewhere?). Efforts include:

• Public Works and Government Service Canada - cgsb which also does ISO 14001 certification for other agencies - green leasing and green citizenship programs including such things as vermiculture for trash - see detailed PDF report which reports
  • office chairs including reduced gas emission, off-gassing, waste minimizing, packaging requirements
  • remanufactured toner cartridges
• (PPT presentation, 2004) Life Cycle Considerations in Environmental Purchasing Decisions with top goals:
  • Reduce Toxics Constituents
  • Increased Recycled Content
  • Design for Recycling
  • Reduced Materials use
  • Promote Energy Conservation
  • Extend Product Life
  • Packaging
  • Promote environmentally sound recycling
  • Promote take-back options
  • Reward corporate environmental policy

The Government creates and funds directories of acceptable products and advises their use in FAQs and its more general guides for suppliers:

• • "designinggreen.com"
  • "procara.ca"

are these essential projects? governments often set buying standards