The words sustainable and green are often used interchangeably, but there are not the same thing.
Green product is defined as "products and services that reduce health and environmental impacts compared to similar products and services used for the same purpose," says Steve Ashkin, president of The Ashkin Group and chairman of the Sustainability Dashboard.
Sustainability, on the other hand, can be represented by a three-legged stool having a leg for environmental, social and financial responsibility, according to Jim Newman, owner of Newman Consulting Group.
"With green, our consideration about people and staff is limited to direct exposures from products or services," says Ashkin. "Sustainability is a much broader term that talks about the implications of those products and services used over a much longer period of time, and considers social and financial impacts as well."
Yes, Green is part of Sustainability. A green supply chain talks about the eco- friendliness of raw materials, process, product and services of a particular supply chain. However, the sustainable supply chain is much broader, taking care of the sustainability of the business--the economical sustainability and social sustainability.
I agree with the previous answers that sustainability and green are often used in a similar context but that sustainability is a deeper concept as just green. I would for sustainability build upon the report from the Brundtland Commission: sustainable development is the kind of development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Green refers to doing something environmentally preferable (or responsable) but does not state that it will not hinder future generations in meeting their own needs. So you could have a green transport using no CO2, which might hinder future generations from doing the same.
Green supply chains reinforce environmental compliance while executing supply chain management functions through operational management,business partner collaboration in order to sustain supply chain efficiencies.
Sustainable supply chains are business oriented where the logistics network of a supply chain is addressed in terms of environment,risk and waste costs.
Although some aspects overlap,the two are not the same.
As other colleagues already mentioned, the concept of sustainability is mainly related to the triple bottom line (economci, environmental and social sustainability); the concept of green is mainly related to the environmental issues. Therefore the two concepts applied to supply chain management are different, even if they are often used to address the same meaning. green is a subsystem of sustainability.
I agree with the other opinions. The concept of "sustainable supply chain" is broader than the concept of "green supply chain".
The goal of a sustainable supply chain is to create, protect and increase long-term environmental, social and economic value for all stakeholders involved in the presence of products and services on the market. Sustainability seeks to ensure that decisions made today do not have an adverse impact on future generations. Only some of them relates to environmental issues. Green = eco friendly . This approach provides an incentive for all shareholders to consider the impact of their actions on the environment. Green supply chains seek to reduce possible negative impact by redesigning sourcing, distribution systems and managing reverse logistics , etc.
Green supply chain practices have the goal of improving environmental health by reducing their impact across many areas of life, such as food, energy, water and waste. Sustainable supply chains are designed to ensure industry can continue to operate into the future in an environment that is healthy and sustainable.