Larimer County reports mixed results on sustainable purchasing as staff push changes to swag and event buying

Larimer County staff reported mixed results on sustainable purchasing Monday, with a slight drop in the share of dollars spent on environmentally friendly products through Amazon and Office Depot even as the number of eco-friendly items purchased increased. Staff also said the county is trying to steer employees away from low-value promotional giveaways and toward reusable event supplies, bulk ordering and other less wasteful practices.

Abby Stapleton told county commissioners that sustainable purchasing under the county’s Internal Climate Action, Resilience and Education plan has two parts: office and operating supplies bought through Amazon and Office Depot, and sustainability criteria built into county requests for proposals. She said spending through Amazon and Office Depot "dropped about half a percent in sustainable spending when you're looking at the dollars," but the county also spent less overall through those vendors. After additional analysis, she said, staff found that the number of eco-friendly products purchased increased 5%.

The county’s work-session packet lists 2025 environmentally friendly purchases through Amazon and Office Depot at 7.4% and says 26% of requests for proposals included environmental, social, governance or other sustainability criteria. Stapleton said that amounted to four of 15 proposals last year, down from 76% in 2024. She said staff typically assign about five points out of 100 to sustainability-related questions, such as waste handling or chemical use, and that she is working with purchasing staff to encourage more departments to include those questions.

Stapleton also highlighted employee training as a key part of the effort. She said she added sustainability content to county purchasing-card training and created a 17-minute internal video this year on sustainable purchasing, events and swag. The training includes a checklist for employees on product materials, eco-labels, local purchasing and the county’s Amazon and Office Depot programs, along with tips for reducing packaging at events and using reusable items instead of single-use products.

Chair Jody Shadduck-McNally said some alternative giveaways can still be useful, pointing to beeswax-paper chapstick with "Larimer County Health Department" on it as an example of swag that people keep and ask about. Stapleton said the items drew interest from the public at Fort Collins Earth Day and could work better than continuing to buy the products departments have been using.

Stapleton said the county has also created browse-only Amazon Business and Office Depot Business accounts so employees without business purchasing access can still see government pricing, bulk discounts and sustainability labels before sending carts to administrators for purchase. She described that as a small change that could save money while helping employees choose more sustainable products.

Shadduck-McNally also asked how Colorado’s newly enacted producer responsibility program for packaging might affect county purchasing. Stapleton said she expects it to push companies toward more recyclable or paper-based packaging, though many details are still unfolding as local recycling programs are implemented.