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Kudos to the Stillwater City Council and GreenStep coordinator Graham Tait for passing a resolution on December 3, 2019, to implement a new sustainable purchasing policy. The policy means that the city will now buy and use products that provide the city with a lower carbon footprint and are better for the environment and human health.
The policy mandates that the city now use recycled and recyclable products, renewable energy, rechargeable batteries, water-saving methods and technology, and lots more, as long as the cost doesn’t increase by more than 20% over previous unsustainable purchases.
“This is a wonderful move toward environmentally sound practices. The Sustainable Purchasing Policy addresses many environmental concerns: waste, green sourcing of products, energy, and water conservation. Many thanks to Graham Tait for his great work,” says Ann Martin, co-chair of Sustainable Stillwater MN’s GreenStep Workgroup.
Stillwater is a GreenStep City, a voluntary Minnesota State set of guidelines for sustainability. The program calls for a sustainable purchasing policy as one of its requirements. Currently, the city has a sustainability level of 2 and ultimately aspires to reach the highest level, 5.