Survey focuses on green purchases

Congress and the White House want to know if agencies buy with the environment in mind.

The survey, which the Office of Management and Budget distributed along with a Nov. 1 memo, asks agencies specific questions about their efforts to purchase environmentally-friendly products.

The survey covered a variety of products, including toilet paper, toner cartridges and traffic barricades. It addressed green purchasing plans and training and asked agencies about methods they use to monitor how well they comply with regulations and the tools they use to measure compliance, according to the memo.

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy is required to report to Congress every two years on agencies’ efforts to make environmentally sound purchases. Presidential Executive Order 13423 also requires the Federal Environmental Executive to report every two years on how agencies are complying with the order.

The surveys are due March 14, 2008, to OFPP and the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive.