Little green schoolhouse

Signaling the growing interest in the connection between environmentalism and supply chain management, colleges and universities on every continent are now teaching "green" supply chain management and logistics courses. They frequently are offered as certificate and continuing education courses, or as modules within general supply chain or logistics courses.

One such example is the University of California-San Diego (USA), which offers the "The Green Supply Chain" course as part of its Sustainable Business Practices and Purchasing and Supply Management certificate programs. The program is unusual because it is offered for credit and was developed by SEEDS (Sustainable Economic and Environmental Development Solutions) Global Alliance, a consulting firm that specializes in environmental issues.

Many supply chain and procurement professionals lack a strong background in the sustainable business practices that are becoming a recognized aspect of day-to-day operations, said instructor David R. Meyer, a principal in SEEDS Global Alliance.

"The focus of this course is to provide professionals with the tools necessary to make sound purchasing decisions and support growing organizational and customer demand for implementing preferable purchasing decisions," Meyer said. "Supply chain professionals have an opportunity to be the 'gatekeepers' for environmentally preferable purchasing."

Students taking the course learn about such subjects as the selection of socially responsible suppliers, product design and disposal, product lifecycle assessment, environmental cost accounting, and reverse logistics. Other topics include sustainable action planning and the Green SCOR (Supply Chain Operations Reference) Model developed by the Supply-Chain Council.

For more information, visit the UC?San Diego Extension web site.