Enlightened Suppliers? Get them ‘Lit’ up! Posted at: May 9, 2019 Posted in: All Back in December I not only made a New Year’s resolution, I made my commitment to keeping it public. I resolved to create something that would both identify ‘enlightened’ suppliers and to highlight examples of best practice in circular procurement and sustainability. This is the ‘Lit’ awards. ‘Lit’ (short for enlightened) is doing good by doing good business – not by paying more or compromising on commercial value to choose the sustainable option. Sustainability has long been a passion of mine and it is now on the wider agenda with the advent of Extinction Rebellion (rebellion.earth) / XR and Greta Thunberg’s impressive campaign. Appealing to the ‘better conscience’ of commercial organisations has proved ineffective. The Extinction Rebellion would claim that government and regulation has proved ineffectual. ‘Lit’ suppliers are those who are environmentally aware but don’t require their clients to pay a ‘green premium’ – or even offer better commercial value. The Vision Ultimately, hard commercial decisions need measurable success. I’d like the Lit Awards to evolve into a way of enabling simple evaluation of products and suppliers based on their ethical / environmental impact. Technological break-throughs – such as blockchain – offer the opportunity to reduce the cost of measurement and making it simple. There are also an increasing number of measures that can be used to evaluate impact. However, there is some way to go in both areas – this is an area I’m keen to investigate deeply going forward. The First Steps Enlightened Suppliers and schemes exist already though. So in its first guise, the Lit Award scheme will focus on raising awareness. Innovation and excellence in sustainability deserves prizes. The Lit Awards will reward suppliers and companies who consistently provide sustainable products and services that are a genuine commercial alternative. Winners will receive a badge to display on their website (plus a real badge to display). Buyers (and subscribers to the Enlightened Procurement newsletter) will get the lowdown on their approach and how the product / service achieves the commercial viability / sustainable option balance. Our first Lit Award will be made in June. After that we need your help Get Involved – TELL ME I want to know more about the suppliers you use, you’ve seen or you know about. If you think they are “Lit” – doing good whilst being good business – nominate them by getting in touch. We will verify that they are genuinely “Lit” and if they are, the badge will be awarded (and we’ll send you a little something as a thank you on their behalf).
