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Sustainable Procurement

City to Sea is committed to avoiding detrimental environmental, social and cultural impacts through its choices in the supply chain. We will look to improve the supply chain, by asking suppliers questions and giving them the chance to improve their services to us.

When choosing items for the organisation we will follow our sustainable procurement policies, values and priorities.

1. Consider the European Waste Hierarchy Principles:

  • Minimisation: Can an item be borrowed or hired?
  • Re-use: Is it built to last or is there a reusable option?
  • Recycle: Can it be made in a material that is recyclable?
  • Recovery: Can any energy or resources be recovered?
  • Disposal: What is the impact and cost of disposal?

2. If we have to buy new, look for the best credentials to reduce environmental and social impact by:

Choosing products that have certifications:

  • Fairtrade (tea, coffee, sugar, chocolate, cotton)
  • Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) (paper, wood)
  • Organic (food, drinks, cotton, clothing)
  • Cruelty-free (cleaning products)
  • Ecologo (cleaning products)

For other product certification check this website: http://www.ecolabelindex.com/ecolabels/

Avoiding excessive packaging by buying loose items or bulk buying.

3. Choose local, independent and ethical suppliers where possible, to reduce travel miles and support the local economy.

4. Ask suppliers and partners about their commitments to the SDG’s, climate and ecological emergency and measures to reduce their impacts such as energy, waste, pollution and safe and fair working conditions in their supply chain.

 

As of 2021 all new and existing suppliers and partners will be asked to answer a questionnaire on their environmental and climate commitments as well as providing:

  • Company environmental policy.
  • Their supply chain awareness and assessment.
  • Living wage and modern slavery act commitments.
  • Actions to address the ecological and climate emergency.

We will expect all suppliers and partners by 2025 to be actively addressing this and have a clear statement on this. To support suppliers, we will signpost them to resources and tools we have found useful on our journey e.g. B-CORP SDG Tool and Business Declares.

Printing

We commit to printing only as required, and always on FSC or recycled paper, double-sided where possible.

T-shirts

We source T-shirts from a supplier that offers:

  • Wind and solar-powered factories.
  • Certifications on their human welfare.
  • Printing on demand, T-shirt recycling and cotton waste repurposing to reduce waste.
Food & drink

We source our office refreshment supplies from an ethical food co-operative wholesaler ensuring the defaults for coffee, tea and chocolate are Fairtrade and organic. When we have an independent office, we purchase milk and juice in glass bottles.

For all team meetings and event menus we provide vegetarian options as standard with significant vegan options requesting that food provided is:

  • Single-use plastic-free.
  • Local, seasonal.
  • Sustainably grown and ideally organic.

Policy reviewed: 27.01.2021

Next review date: 27.01.2022

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