Posts Tagged ‘LCA’
Life Cycle Thinking: Key Issues and Indispensable Tools
Posted in Research by Kate Archdeacon on March 12th, 2010
Source: Core 77
Image: paul swansen via flickr CC
From the article by Lloyd Hicks
You might guess that the carbon footprint from a carton of orange juice is largely due to packaging, transportation and disposal, but the findings from a recent PepsiCo study may surprise you. When the entire life cycle of orange juice was included, growing the oranges turned out to contribute the most to the carbon footprint—mainly due to the production and application of nitrogen based fertilizers. It’s important for designers to recognize the impact made in every phase of a product’s life cycle. In this case, shifting agricultural practices may result in the most significant emission reductions, but designers are far from powerless to make improvements. The same study states that packaging and distribution represented 37% of the carbon footprint. With that in mind, how could a designer accurately test new scenarios to create an orange juice distribution strategy that has fewer impacts on the environment? How would he or she know if a plastic bottle is better than a gable-top carton or not? How do concentrated juice products size up?