Climate Change Factsheet CC‐10‐12 ‐14 Life Cycle Analysis provides information to consumers and producers about ways to reduce the carbon footprint of a product or process Dewayne L. Ingram, UK Professor of Horticulture Consumers and producers alike are becoming increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of the production and use of products and services. There is an increasingly high expectation for products to be sustainable in terms of economics, natural resources and other environmental considerations, as well as the health/safety of producers and consumers. Use of the terms such as “green”, “environmentally friendly”, “eco‐friendly”, etc. to describe a product or service that is more sustainable than those commonly available has resulted in an overuse and often a misuse of the terms. The production and distribution of a product in ways that reduce carbon dioxide emissions is laudable, but that does not make the product “green” in the full sense of the term. Unfortunately, there is no universally‐accepted label for the relative environmental impact of a product or service but there are hundreds of various labels claiming some “eco‐friendly” characteristic of products. For example, a cleaning product with claims of being “eco‐friendly” and “all natural” may actually contain a toxic natural product that is common in cleaning products. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, recognizing the proliferation of such labels, updated its “green” guidelines for truth in advertising in 2012 in an effort to protect consumers from false claims. One tool being used to apply standards to the discussion about sustainability and “green” is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA is a systematic process of accounting for the diverse environmental impacts of interrelated input components and processes of a product or practice during its complete life cycle. Calculating such environmental impacts is a significant undertaking, as there are international standards for LCA which require certain procedures be followed in the collection of data, analysis of the data and interpretation and validation of the results. The most common use of LCA is to analyze the system components of products and services in terms of a carbon footprint. Carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions, The carbon footprint (kg CO2 – equivalent emissions) derived from LCA studies can
be positive or negative over the life cycle of products.
3.4 kg CO2-e will be emitted for a gallon jug of milk
54.0 kg CO2-e will be emitted for a pair of Timberland winter boots
3.7 kg CO2-e will be emitted for a six-can pack of beer
0.5 kg CO2-e will be emitted for a 2-liter bottle of Coca Cola
27.2 kg CO2-e will be emitted for a Patagonia Talus jacket
1.7 kg CO2-e will be emitted for a ½-gallon carton of orange juice
primarily carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane, caused by an organization, event, product or service. However, the objective of a specific LCA might be a product’s water footprint (the water used, both directly and indirectly, by an organization, event, product or service), toxicity potential (releases that are toxic to humans and/or the environment, both acute and chronic) or some other environmental impact measure. The object of the LCA will dictate how the output is expressed. For example, the carbon footprint of a product is expressed as the global warming potential of greenhouse gas emissions expressed in kg CO2‐equivalent (abbreviated “CO2‐e”) emitted during the production, useful life and end‐of‐life activities. An LCA begins with an inventory analysis. This is an inventory of all input materials (plastics, chemicals, water, etc.) and processes (heating, cooling, mixing, transporting, etc.) and the contribution of each to measurable environmental impact. These materials and processes are those that are important to a system with defined boundaries. Boundaries usually include use, reuse and maintenance impacts, in addition to the production and distribution of a product. Some refer to appropriate boundaries as cradle‐to‐grave or even cradle‐to‐gate but defining what is the cradle and what is the grave or gate of a product or practice is an important issue. Cradle‐to‐grave refers to assessing the environmental impacts of a product during manufacturing, transport and use and ends with the impact of that product at the end of its useful life. The “grave” could be considered recycling into the manufacturing of the same product or for use in a different product, or being put in a landfill. As an interesting sided note; aluminum can recycling is one of the best examples of the environmental impact of recycling. Recycling aluminum cans saves 95% of the energy used to make aluminum cans from virgin ore and diverts approximately 1.7 billion pounds from landfills. Aluminum cans represent less than 20% of curbside recycling collections but 70% of the value, thus paying for collection of other materials (http://www.cancentral.com/funFacts.cfm). In other words, it is important to understand the boundaries of a study, even a professional LCA study, when examining claims of “green” products. LCA is an effective tool in understanding the inputs, outputs and impacts of systems producing a product or activity. Not only should educators, researchers and industry leaders understand the terms related to this tool and the potential application of the tool itself, but the consuming public must also be aware of such tools. Public understanding of the scientific rigor of such tools will help consumers judge product claims and to look for the scientific standard behind such claims. Claims of “green” products must be judged against some valid standard; at a minimum, the impact must be determined in an approved manner. For example, the production, use and maintenance of landscape plants and floral crops constitute the original “green” industry. Without doubt, that industry increases the function and aesthetics of the built environment and improves the quality of life of individuals in those environments. However, the choice of inputs and processes in the production and utilization of plants and related services will determine the degree of “green” in the green industry. Therefore, baseline assessment of environmental impact of products and services must be made. Just as LCA provides useful information to consumers, the information gained from a proper LCA of production systems can help managers better understand their production system and practices. This will allow managers to assess the potential environmental and market benefit of production and distribution system components. It will also help them better articulate an improved “value proposition” for their products in the market place. For example, a recent study has shown that a 2‐inch caliper red maple tree has a cutting‐to‐landscape carbon footprint of 8.3 kg CO2‐equivalent. In other words, a net of 8.3 kg CO2‐equivalent emissions were invested in the production and distribution of that tree. However, trees take CO2 from the atmosphere throughout their useful life and storage the carbon in wood and release oxygen to the environment. A red maple tree in the landscape, using international standards for a 100‐yr assessment period, will reduce atmospheric CO2 by more than 800 kg during its useful life. These data indicate that shade tree production is making a significant positive impact on atmospheric CO2 over the life of the product and the consuming public needs that information to make informed purchasing decisions. The data also show that reducing the shipping distance by truck from the nursery to the landscape from 240 miles to 160 miles would decrease the cutting‐to‐landscape carbon footprint by 16% to 6.9 kg CO2‐e. This illustrates an advantage of buying such heavy and bulky products from local sources. Don’t be duped by false environmental impact claims that are not backed‐up with the scientific rigor of a validated LCA study. Consumers must question commercial claims and ask if a proper, independent assessment was conducted. Hopefully, this article will help you look at those claims differently and make informed purchasing and management decisions. Bibliography Ball, Jeffery. 2012. Six products, six carbon footprints. Wall Street Journal. Accessed October
2012 at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122304950601802565.html.
Baumann, Henrikke, and Anne-Marie Tillman. 2004. The hitch hiker’s guide to LCA: An
orientation in life cycle assessment methodology and application. Studentlitteratur: Lund, Sweden.
British Standards Institution. 2008. Specification for the assessment of the life cycle greenhouse
gas emissions of goods and services. PAS 2050. Available as a free download at
http://www.bsigroup.com/upload/Standards%20&%20Publications/Energy/PAS2050.pdf.
Can Manufacturers Institute. Recycling fun facts. Accessed May 2011 at
http://www.cancentral.com/funFacts.cfm.
Ingram, D. 2012. Life cycle assessment of a field-grown red maple tree to estimate its carbon
footprint components. Intl. J.Life Cycle Assess. 17(4):453-462.
International Organization for Standardization (ISO). 2006. Life Cycle Assessment,
Requirements and Guidelines. ISO Rule 14044:2006. 59 p.
Scientific Applications International Corporation (SAIC). 2006. Life Cycle Assessment:
Principles and Practice. EPA/600/R-06/06. Available as a free download at
http://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPURL.cgi?Dockey=P1000L86.txt.
U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Truth in advertising and marketing. Environmentally Friendly
Products: FTC’s Green Guides. Accessed October 2012 at
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/reporter/advertising/greenguides.shtml.
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