I write cause I like to read and above all cause I like to express myself. By writing you document yourself, you learn, you improve, and because you leave another part of yourself. When I started writing, I was told to write about the things that interest me the most, what I like, what makes me feel good. And today, I want to redesign my website my personal approach to something much more real and current that always interested me, there is nothing that worries me more (the word is worry) than nature, the environment and the sustainability of society itself as a concept.

Sustainability.

If we are going to talk about sustainability, let’s talk it well. Sustainability includes environment but it is many more things, from ethics to social work, passing through legacy. I will now write down all the words that come to my mind with sustainability: Legacy, culture, human, earth, water, sea, wind, balance, nature, rights, freedoms, equity, diversity, difference, unity, respect, resources, continuity, future, past and present, ecology, energy, work, consumption, close, community, moderation, empathy, institutions, animals, extinction, responsibility, scenarios, education, health, public health, needs, population, planet, … among many more.

Sustainable Sourcing.

And of course I am in the purchasing business. That’s why I want to start a new, much more detailed and understandable section in which I can share my knowledge and give visibility to sustainable sourcing and another way of doing things in purchasing.

Sustainable sourcing consists of taking into account social and environmental factors along with economic-financial factors in the purchasing decision making process.

This is a paradigm shift. It is giving value to things, redesigning the “Value for money” by reconsidering multiple aspects in the purchasing decision process, from the environmental “cost” of production of that product or even the cost of recycling/valorization or destruction of the product once used after purchase.

Thus, as a first approach to the subject, we will take into account the following aspects in the purchasing decisions:

-Considerations on value for money as mentioned above.

-The complete life cycle of the products. That is, there is a purpose in the purchase and once that purpose is over, what will happen next is important.

-Environmental aspects throughout the entire life cycle. From transportation to recycling.

-Social aspects: such as poverty eradication, inequality in resource distribution, labor conditions, human rights or fair trade. As it is.

-Sustainable or recycled materials/products. The concept of circular economy and all the terms of re-use, re-utilization, re-cycling, re-design, etc. appear in purchasing.

So let’s start changing the paradigm of purchasing decisions or financial targets. And thanks to the change, in the short, medium or long term we will be able to taste the benefits of our sustainability policies in these areas:

-Long-term efficiency savings – Many sustainable solutions are perfectly compatible with savings, productivity and beneficial to the company.

-More efficient and effective use of natural resources – I will definitely dedicate an exclusive section to the topic of resources.

-Providing signals to the market for sustainable products. The topic of sustainability is very topical and requires positioning. And the market can be grateful for such positioning, coming to consider sustainability as an added value.

-Reducing the impact of hazardous substances on health and the environment – Key.

Encouraging innovation – Whenever we innovate, in this process of innovation, of searching for alternatives that meet our expectations in terms of sustainability, in the end our company and our products benefit because innovation is in itself a cross-cutting process.

-Commitment of organizations to sustainable development – This is one of the most important points, if possible, to be part of the change in society.

So there is much to do and much to write, and we must be part of this change in society towards a better future, where we reduce the footprint of our passage through the world and while we do it in the best way possible ethically.

Foto de Richard Sagredo en Unsplash