FORT BLISS, Texas -- The sizable U.S. government executive orders which cover its agencies’ purchasing of eco-friendly goods and materials, better known as “affirmative procurement,” may be beyond the layman’s basic comprehension, but the orders are no less admirable in an effort to set the standard for an environmentally friendly society. One facet of this effort is being helped along at Fort Bliss through cooperation between its Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division’s Recycling Center and tenant base service centers, run by the San Antonio Lighthouse for the Blind.
For almost a year the recycling team has been monitoring products available through both of Fort Bliss’ base supply centers, or “country stores,” and placing green labels which read “Fort Bliss recycles” on items that are manufactured with 30 percent or more of post-consumer, or recycled, materials. The minimum 30 percent standard is a priority for government purchase card holders, meaning that if an item a customer requires is available with this percentage of post-consumer manufacturing, it’s that item which should be procured.
Stephanie Nebhan, an outreach coordinator for Fort Bliss’ Recycling Center, said her office wanted to help clarify these percentages so that the Soldier-shopper wouldn’t have to on his own.
“We wanted to make it easier for shoppers to know what is ‘green’ when they go to the country store,” said Nebhan. “For example, a lot of items will say ‘on recycled paper’ but it doesn’t say how much [of the item] is recycled.”
Nebhan trained environmental officers on affirmative procurement and put the green patch program together, which is now a part of the training which is offered by DPW-E to all government purchasers.
Terri Smythe, marketing and public relations representative for Bliss’ Recycling Center, said buying green “closes the loop” on recycling and is just as important as recycling in the first place.
“If we’re going to tell people to recycle, what was going to happen after that?” she rhetorically asked and Nebhan answered, “It would be pointless if we recycled materials and took them back, but did nothing with them. It’s important that we reuse those materials because it involves the use of less energy.”
“The government wants us to create that marketplace, and since we’re the largest buying commodity in the world it made sense for us to help drive that economy and also those products,” said Smythe. “Not only is having people buy [minimum 30 percent recycled] items first in closing the loop creating new technologies, it’s also putting people to work and is ‘big picture’ thinking for a very good cause.”
Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Reggie Daniel, SALB’s area manager covering Fort Bliss, White Sands Missile Range, N.M., and Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., said while goods on the shelves of his facilities already had similar indicators, Fort Bliss’ “green patch” takes the effort a step further to serve Team Bliss.
“The items in the store are already marked with the ‘AbiltyOne’ sticker but adding the green patch makes it really stand out to the customer on what they need to buy with their government card,” he said. “That helps the Lighthouse sell more products which Fort Bliss environmental and the command team have deemed environmentally proven.”
Daniel said Fort Bliss country stores are the first SALB base service centers to wear a green patch or a similar indicator and isn’t surprised that it started with Team Bliss.
“Fort Bliss has always been the leader in being first and the SALB enjoys being a part of team,” he said. “The environmental team, along with our headquarters out of San Antonio, has been instrumental in keeping us informed on what's ‘green,’ and we are proud to be representing the post and the SALB in this cause.”
The Green Patch program is only one of many environmentally friendly initiatives alive at Fort Bliss. To learn more about Fort Bliss DPW-E, visit www.bliss.army.mil/DPW/Environmental. Also, check out how the SALB serves Bliss and many other installations at www.salighthouse.org.
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