What is greenwash?

There are numerous products on the market that claim to have some sort of environmental credentials. It appears that many of these companies and products are just trying to increase their market stakes by "cashing in" on the new trend of environmental consciousness by the consumer. This does however mean that many products labelled as "environmentally friendly" or "eco" are in fact no better for the environment than the traditional product or might even be worse in some cases. This green labelling of these products incorrectly or falsely is called greenwashing.

I saw an interesting take on what should be considered an appropriately environmentally friendly product. This angle considered that the entire life cycle of the product needed to be environmentally friendly. Now, what does this mean? The idea is that every step in its production and demise are appropriate for the environment or sustainable. The concept of cradle to grave is introduced.

Now actually finding a product that is sustainable and environmentally friendly may be difficult and lack of information also plays a part in the misinformation of the consumer. Best of luck. Pin It

Top 10 green building trends

I just found a press release from the Earth Advantage Institute posted on the Green Architecture and Building Report website outlining the "top ten green building trends in 2011". It was an interesting read and certainly shows that there is so much to learn about and to consider. New vocabulary alone will take me a little while to remember and grasp.

The article outlines both personal and commercial trends for this building industry sector.  The top ten trends for 2011 as outlined by the Earth Advantage Institute are:

1. Affordable green
2. Sharing and comparing home energy use
3. Outcome-based energy codes
4. Community purchasing power
5. "Grid-aware" appliances fuel convergences of smart grid and smart homes
6. Accessory dwelling units
7. Rethinking of residential heating and cooling
8. Residential grey water use
9. Small commercial certification
10. Lifecycle Analysis

Have a look at the original post and full analysis at: http://www.gabreport.com/2011/01/top-ten-green-building-trends-for-2011. This is an American website, so it is important to note that we here in Australia might be a little behind the times. I did notice the term and concept "right-size" housing, in their analysis, as one that seems to have been covered in a previous year's trends. This is one concept that I think we here in Australia are only just starting to grasp but despite being a little out of step is one that we should all still consider.


Pin It

Should companies be responsible?

What would happen if companies were held to account for the goods they produce throughout their products entire life-cycle? As an example in this situation, a producer of a mobile phone would therefore be responsible for all of the discarded or redundant mobile phones they produce. I think this is a marvellous situation to ponder.

Would producers end up producing products that were likely to last longer, have more recyclable or reusable content and reduce the number of new models they are produced? What other situations would arise from this? Perhaps there would be a return of repairers, rather than the standard response "it would be cheaper to buy a new one than investigate the issue and then repair the problem" or "parts are no longer available for that model".

I believe there would likely be less landfill, less pollution, more sustainability and longevity of products. Producers would become more savvy with their products, more responsible with their choice of components, increase the amount of recycled content, as well as the increasing the capability for  their products to be recycled.

To me the opportunities and positive outcomes as a result of such a scenario are endless and something that perhaps we could strive towards and maybe mark the end of endless consumption that modern, western society seems to have entered into. Pin It

Life Cycle Assessment

What is it and how does one undertake one?

Tonight I have been looking into this and I found the Australian Life Cycle Assessment Society (http://www.alcas.com.au/). They have a useful page that discusses what a 'life cycle assessment' is and here is their explanation:

"assesses the environmental aspects and potential impacts of a product, process or service by

• compiling an inventory of relevant energy and material inputs and environmental releases;
• evaluating the potential environmental impacts of those inputs and releases
• interpreting the results to better inform decision-making".

The ALCA has a basic methodology of how someone would undertake a life cycle assessment, but so far I don't know how you as a general member of the public would actually obtain the information required to be inputted into such an assessment so that any sort of judgement or comparison of products could be undertaken. Will keep you posted.

Pin It

Biodegradable Pen

Today I bought some new ball point pens from a large stationary store/chain here in Australia. I found the most bizarre product and one that I never thought would come with any sort of environmental options, but I found a pen that is being marketed as 'biodegradable'.

Gimmick or fact? The details are sketchy and whether it is any more degradable than the next pen made out of normal plastic or better for the environment on face value I have no idea but the gimmick factor intrigued me so I purchased a pack of two. Comparatively maybe a little bit more expensive than a middle of the range pack of 2 ball point pens.

Upon reading the fine print, the main outside pen components are the biodegradable parts, as they are made from corn based material (as the packaging explains) and basically the rest of the pen are your typical of a standard pen. These normal pen components need to go into the normal rubbish process, whilst the corn based material (the outer pen shaft) can go on the other hand can go into your compost or into the soil and it sounds like it will take about a year to break down. Interesting product and process if it truly does work.

Overall as I said I don't know whether the footprint of the product is truly any better or worse than a standard ball point pen. This is where I need to start looking into life cycle assessments and how to do them accurately enough to make a judgement about the environmental footprint of products and services from my living room or whilst in the shops.

Pin It