Happy (early) Earth Day! Green your supply chain with these resources.

Happy (early) Earth Day to you! In honor of Earth Day tomorrow, I got you a little present. I put together a helpful list of links to sites that help you in your quest for a sustainable supply chain. No, No…it’s OK. You didn’t have to get me anything…but if you DID feel the need to do something special for earth day, comment back with your favorite green supply chain site. Ok, so here’s the list; Sustainability is Free:  The case for sustainable supply chains: My first pick is a helpful little PDF put out by the “Sustainable Supply Chain Project” at the University of Reno.  It provides a nice rundown of some of the factors for making a business case for sustainable supply chain management. So, if you are (heaven forbid) just starting out on your sustainable supply chain project and need to make a business case, this is a must read.

MHIA – Green resources: This handy site is managed by the Material Handling Industry of America and has a great collection of resources for greening the supply chain.  The site covers manufacturing issues, logistics and distribution, product design and energy and building considerations.  Also, they have a section on making a case for green manufacturing and on government standards and regulations.  Finally, they have a 4-minute video on 10 steps to a greener supply chain. Again, if you are just starting out, this is great information for developing your plan.

Portal for Responsible Supply Chain Management:  This is another European centric site (I have to give credit to the Europeans for their leadership in sustainability). The focus of this site is slightly broader in that the look at issues beyond sustainability (child labor, forced labor, corruption, etc). This site has a very interesting set of resources from the buyer’s perspective and from the producer’s perspective and also has a rich set of resources including forms for self-assessment.

The Green Supply Chain: Not to be confused with “Green Supply Chain”,  THE Green Supply Chain website is published by the people at Supply Chain Digest.  The site is focused more on sustainable supply chain news, but also has case studies, reports and other resources.

Green Supply Chain Network: The Green Supply Chain Network is a blog sponsored by the Supply Chain Network and has a series of articles that deals primarily with supply chain logistics and transportation.

So there you have it; my Earth Day present to you. I hope some of these links help you and your company on your quest for a greener, more sustainable supply chain. I’m under no illusions that I’ve captured all the resources out there, so if you know of one that I missed, please comment back and add it to the list. The earth will thank you!