Global Survey on Sustainability

As reported in an April 30, 2012 Environmental Leader article, 72 percent of US companies say sustainability influences their purchasing decisions and is an important factor when selecting a service provider. Outside of the US, 91 percent of the companies polled said sustainability was part of their purchasing decisions. These numbers are from a survey called 2012 Rackspace Green Survey from cloud computing firm Rackspace Hosting.

Melissa Gray, director of sustainability at Rackspace said the survey results show the companies see sustainability as increasingly necessary. Companies appear to understand that selecting solid partners as part of their supply chain translates into lower risk and more efficiency.

The survey also found:

26 percent of respondents said cost considerations outweighed environmental factors when purchasing products and services;

54 percent of companies said when two purchasing choices are equal (including cost), the greener product or service is better;

20 percent said when two purchasing choices are not equal, greener is better;

17 percent of companies said sustainability is a standard part of their request for information, proposal or quote system;

59 percent of companies said they consider sustainability periodically for specific types of purchases.