Environmentally preferable purchasing

State and federal government (Executive Order 13101), environmentally preferable purchasing programs. 

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Cleaning Products Pilot Project, Washington, DC, 1997. 

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Guide Plastic Lmnber (in structural applications)... 

United States Environmental Protection Agency. Private Sector Pioneers. Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program EPA742-R-99-001, June 1999. 

The ability of consumers to voluntarily pay a premium to purchase environmentally preferred electric generation would seem to be a happy middle ground between free-market energy proponents and clean energy advocates. Yet, on closer inspection there are... 

That the preferences are complete is an important statement for rational decision making but a preference that can be difficult to replicate in environmental valuation studies. It is basically very difficult to compare cleaner air with otter preservation with the purchase of a car with avoidance of cancer with reduced fish populations. In other words, preferences for environmental goods and services are likely not to be complete. 

However, the socially optimal degree of persistence is not necessarily ensured through market mechanisms, since persistence redounds to the benefit or detriment of many individuals other than the purchaser. Specifically, since chemicals that are persistent must be active within one of the various basic environmental media (atmospheric, hydrological or organic), this activity will also be experienced by the many others in contact with the same medium. Since this activity may be undesirable from the perspective of the many other persons subjected to it, they might prefer a lower level of persistence than would the individual who is making the purchase decision without taking their preferences into account. 

Studies in the United States have indicated that consumers are concerned about the way in which pork is produced and that they want to purchase organic pork in response to that concern. In an interesting paper by Wheatley (2001), a number of studies are summarised, such as that by Hurley and Kliebenstein (1998), who researched consumer preferences for pork produced in such a way as to minimise the environmental impact and found that many consiuners do value environmentally conscious pork production. 

The high level of consumer awareness of the environmental profile of its products may dictate such a move by the business. With consumer purchase preferences being significantly influenced by the environmental performance of the goods or services, businesses may compete for market share on the basis of positive enviromnental attributes of their products. 

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