Eco-Awareness Growing With Simple Eco-Calculations
What if every item you bought or consumed had an ecological impact number or assessment of all of its hidden impacts on the environment. How would having this type of information impact your decision to buy?
Well I guess there is a new calculating system that is aimed to do just that. It is referred to as the life cycle assessment (or LCA) and was created to evaluate the impact of a wide range of manufactured products. This method takes into account the impact on the environment, human health and the labor involved. It is most commonly used by industrial ecologists to quantify the impact of most man-made products and to determine their sustainability. ‘Ecological accounting’ is the most powerful method in evaluating the true impact of the products we purchase and therefore, support! It could educate each of us in understanding which high heel would be the most eco-friendly. Or help determine which cell phone would be more environmentally LUX.
Even organizations could use this type of eco-calculation to evaluate their own supply chains and find out how they enhance their product strategies to be more eco-intelligent. For increased transparency of product impact, Greg Norris created an open source platform called Earthster. This LCA site is geared at empowering businesses with the type of calculated information which actually quantifies each product life cycle to gain a more ecological impact perspective. Consumers benefit too, since it allows for online calculation to evaluate any product you are considering to purchase. There is also a built in feedback mechanism to communicate any environmental requests to that company directly. Now this is what I call simply LUX-tastic!! 
Charged with this type of eco-info could revolutionize the way each we buy food, clothes, cars, etc. It could also bring more transparent accountability to businesses that might be simply ‘green-washing.’ The power of eco-info now just a simple calculation away!!
For more information, read Ecological Intelligence by Dan Goleman.
Tagged in: sustainability, consumer awareness, business practices, ecological intelligence, footprint, life cycle assessment lca, product impact, earthster.org, eco-practices,
