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Sustainability
Beyond Going Green: A Comprehensive Approach to Saving Resources
The AbilityOne Program is dedicated to being green. Beyond traditional methods of preserving natural resources, our approach helps customers conserve labor, capital and time.
AbilityOne is able to realize benefits such as:
- Contributing to the health and well-being of the community
- Improved air and water quality
- Reduced costs and increased profits
- Improved employee productivity and satisfaction
- Meeting federal regulations concerning “… environmentally preferable products and services”
- Optimized life-cycle economic performance
AbilityOne is committed to recycling best practices in all of the services offered through the Program.
- Laundry services operate equipment that conserves water and/or recycles the water, performs better using less electricity or gas, and uses safer and more environmentally friendly detergents.
- Custodial services uses environmentally friendly products and practices but most importantly provides a healthier facility for the customer.
- Fleet Management services consumes only one cup of water to steam jet wash the exterior of a vehicle.
- Grounds Maintenance services utilize low emissions equipment and alternative fuels, in addition to reusing natural waste through mulching and composting in services.
- Secure Document Destruction services apply extensive recycling programs to preserve trees and other resources used to produce paper.
- Secure Mail / Digital Document services convert information to a digital format using less paper and other resources for the delivery of mail.
Federal Mandates and Regulations:
Being green goes beyond embracing sustainable and environmentally responsible business practices. Recent Executive Orders and federal regulations mandate that government agencies procure environmentally friendly products and services. “Green” Federal guidance includes:
Executive Order 13101
"Greening the Government through Waste Prevention, Recycling and Federal Acquisition" directs Federal agencies to procure products and services that are environmentally preferable, which "have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products or services that serve the same purpose.”
For more information see: http://www.ofee.gov/eo/13101.htm
Executive Order 13423
Sec. 2.(d) requires that agency acquisitions of goods and services (i) use sustainable environmental practices, including acquisition of biobased, environmentally preferable, energy-efficient, water-efficient, and recycled-content products, and (ii) use of paper of at least 30 percent post-consumer fiber content; Sec. 2.(e) ensures that the agency (i) reduces the quantity of toxic and hazardous chemicals and materials acquired, used, or disposed of by the agency.
FAR #23.703
This Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requires that executive agencies within the U.S. government identify and purchase environmentally preferable products and services. The regulation mandates that agencies promote the use of non-hazardous and recoverable materials and maximize the use of environmentally favorable products based on guidance from the EPA.
For more information, visit: http://www.arnet.gov/far/
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By 2015 – all GSA properties will have contractual requirements for green cleaning.
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