Welcome to Sonoma County Green Purchasing

Welcome to our website. This site was designed to help inform about our policies and procedures regarding green purchasing, and what steps can be taken towards a greener future within our County. Green purchasing is an important component of the County’s Climate Protection Action Plan (PDF: 12.4 MB). What we buy, where we buy it from, and what we choose not to buy makes an important difference in reaching our goal of a healthier, sustainable environment. The Sonoma County Purchasing Division purchases and leases goods, contracts for professional services, engages independent contractors and contracts for construction services on behalf of the County and its departments. The Purchasing Division also manages personal property declared surplus to County needs.

Mission Statement

The Purchasing Division is committed to efficiently procure goods and services required for County operations in an ethical, cost effective and timely manner.

To that end, we will:

• Provide value added service and support for our customers
• Promote accessibility, open communications and procurement opportunity
• Continuously evaluate and improve the quality of our service
• Provide procurement leadership in an era of continual change
• Create and preserve a work environment, which promotes efficiency, employee competence and commitment to our values and goals.

Policies

Our purchasing policies include

• Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (PDF: 50 kB): Gives the County the ability to award bids to green vendors or for green products if they are within 5% of the lowest bid. To be certified green, the vendor must meet independent 3^rd party certification.
• Local Preference for Goods (PDF: 14 kB): We allow local vendors within 5% of the lowest bid a chance to match the bid, recognizing that using local vendors often means a reduction in the carbon footprint associated with long distance travel and that local vendors help support our local economy.