Buying and selling in sustainable ways

We take responsibility for the consequences of how we produce, buy and sell

You have chosen to Sus Out how your group can develop more sustainably by changing the way in which your group buys and sells goods and services. This page will help you to understand the choices you have about how you buy and sell and how you can use this knowledge to contribute to the sustainable development of your community and others.

What is buying and selling in a sustainable way?

Buying and selling in sustainable ways, or sustainable economy, involves taking account of the social and environmental impacts of how we produce, buy and sell goods and services. For many providers of goods and services the 'bottom line' is how much profit they can keep from what they charge customers after they have paid the wages, bills for materials and other charges. However, these bills and charges only deal with the money that has changed hands; they do not include other costs generated by the process. For example, if the production process is dangerous, this may cause ill health to the workers that has to be paid for by the National Health Service or the welfare system or by the workers themselves.

If materials are transported great distances because the producer will pay less for them or for the labour to manufacture them, the producer does not get charged for the damage their fuel use causes to the environment. Most 'cheap' food, clothes and other goods would not be thought of as cheap if the social and environment costs of their production and sale were added to the money that changes hands. Sustainable economy, whether we are buyers or sellers, involves us moving from a 'single bottom line' approach which only counts the money to a 'triple bottom line' way of thinking which takes into account the full social, environmental and financial costs of the goods and services on which we all depend.

Sustainable Economy and Sustainable development

The development of sustainable economy involves a shift of values from single to triple bottom line thinking and challenges us to find new ways of measuring progress. Western economies, including our own, measure progress in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – the total monetary value of the goods and services we exchange with each other. This measure tells us that we are better off if we produce, buy and sell more. However, GDP does not reflect the possibility that we might be producing goods that are bad for us or the planet, such as junk food (well being), gas guzzling vehicles (living within environmental limits), or that we are cutting jobs or wages to produce goods more cheaply (social justice). GDP also does not tell us how fairly the benefits of economic activity are distributed and it is not a measure that the majority of people have any role in auditing or evaluating (participatory decision making). All of these factors have an impact on whether our economic progress constitutes sustainable development or not. There is no globally agreed alternative to GDP as a measure of progress but the search to find a suitable alternative measure of development is under way. The Fairtrade movement represents the most substantial initiative to develop sustainable economic activity around the globe.

How does economic sustainability affect you group?

Some community groups are directly involved in economic activity, such as providing housing, debt advice, personal care etc. They may be social businesses. They may have staff members, buildings and other resources. Other groups might not think of themselves as playing any economic role, but most community groups are buyers or sellers of goods or services to some degree. The goods they purchase might be limited to the refreshments for meetings or events or to small amounts of stationery. Groups might occasionally hire transport for a social outing or to play an away game. They might pay for a venue to hold their meetings. Each group might think that their purchases are insignificant to the national or global economy and that their economic choices will have very little effect on sustainable development. However, there are some 50,000 small voluntary and community groups in Scotland and their collective purchasing power is significant. Community groups, when they buy or sell, are also a part of their local community's economy; they have the capacity to attract money and other resources in to their community and they can influence the way in which the assets of their community are used for community benefit.

Your group has purchasing power and it might have capital assets it can use to support sustainability; but it is also likely to depend on funding from political or charitable sources to maintain its activities and to provide services to the wider community. These sources are always under threat and you will be under increasing pressure to justify why public resources should be channelled to the community through your organisation. Funders, especially government and local authority funders, are increasingly asking how the money they spend will contribute to sustainable development. At the same time, funders will also be looking to distribute their resources as economically as possible and in a way that is socially just. Successful groups will be those who can demonstrate how their use of money will contribute to the triple bottom line.

Developing your ability to buy and sell more sustainably

Your group decided that it would like to build on its contribution to economic sustainability and you pledged yourselves to an action you could take to show that you have achieved this. A three step approach will help you to clarify your pledge and to put an action plan in place:

Develop your understanding of the economy of your community.
Think about how your group makes economic decisions.
Review your pledge and plan what you will do.

When you have clarified your pledge and agreed on your action plan, a range of organisations are available to help you.

Helpful organisations

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Useful resources