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  Burn or Bury? Analyzing Waste Management Options in Detail

  November 5, 2012    1 Comment

  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – the waste imperative is as clear as it can get. What's less clear, however, is what we should we do with the remaining stuff. Even the greenest society is, at a certain point, confronted with the unusable leftovers of consumption. What should happen to these? Treatment of the leftovers is a well discussed question and the answer relies on three big alternatives: incineration, dumping and composting. All three have pros and cons, some of which are apparent, others rather surprising. In this article, let me introduce you to a life cycle assessment (LCA) that analyzes th...

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  Green Ocean Hunters? The Environmental Effects of Fishing and Aqu ...

  September 11, 2012    1 Comment

  Last week, in part one of this article, we ended with the tragedy of the commons and the question of whether overfishing is a logical consequence of human nature. Luckily, not all things are as bad as they seem. Let's get back to our effort to increase comprehension and scroll to page 18 of Frank Asche's report (Green Growth in Fisheries and Aquaculture Production and Trade). He seems quite confident there. [T]here is no doubt that aquaculture can be carried out in a sustainable manner, independent of the level of intensity. Therefore, the real issue with aquaculture and sustainability is whe...

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  Green Ocean Hunters? The Environmental Effects of Fishing and Aqu ...

  September 5, 2012    1 Comment

  Shrimp farms destroy sensitive mangrove forest ecosystems, salmon escape from designated aquaculture spots and spread parasites, fish trawlers leave nothing but empty seas behind and even organic fish farming could be unsustainable due to dependence on fish meal from wild catch. When it comes to seafood, the message transmitted across mainstream media channels is devastating: there is simply nothing left we can eat responsibly, be it from the wild or aquaculture. Does that mean we all have to go vegetarian? Well, in many cases, the good news is that fish performs better than meat, when it come...

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  LCA, CF, MFCA? What to Expect From Umberto User Workshop Hamburg, ...

  August 20, 2012  

  Sustainability and efficiency: a couple of terms that couldn't be more misused and greenwashed. A pernicious conspiracy of PR and CSR departments around the globe has ridden these words down to mere meaninglessness. This is the setting in which a hero emerges from the ashes, a bright star who leaves the grey smog of empty words behind and does some straight talking. The makers and users of umberto, one of the most underestimated software tools in the professional sustainability universe, come together for a user workshop a month from now. In a concentrated time frame of two days (Sept 17+18, 2...

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  To Recycle or Not to Recycle – PVC Cable Waste is the Question

  July 9, 2012    3 Comments

  Recycling – it’s the magic word when the ill-informed think “environmental friendliness”. “Recyclable” – the number one green term that doesn’t mean a thing. Of course, as long as you put enough energy into a process, you can recycle virtually anything. The issue, the uncomfortable drawback that sits behind the pleasant sheen, the little itch you feel when you start thinking things through, is the inevitable truth of energy input. Yes, producing stuff requires energy. And yes, recycling, too, really does require energy! Material savings are easy to outline, but the key to a true environmental ...

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  The 8 Most Specific LinkedIn Groups for Industrial Ecology

  June 5, 2012  

  The social media marketing hype seems to be declining, whereas a seemingly infinite flood of mobile internet devices, smartphones and tablets conquer conference audiences and public places. What's left is a rising proportion of users who, rather than just share countless self portraits on facebook, turn the mobile technology to good account. If you form a part of the latter, or want to do so, and also work in an industry-related sustainability field, find the most relevant LinkedIn groups in this article. I bet my (old) netbook you'll find at least one useful group you haven't heard of! I am n...

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  Avoiding the Relocation of Emissions - How to Face Carbon Leakage

  April 1, 2012    1 Comment

  In the course of the last 20 years, some of the more developed countries achieved a remarkable reduction of carbon emissions. However, taking a closer look at this, we see that a reduction in one place can be closely correlated to an increase of emissions in another. A scope of “one country” is incomplete, since both goods and emissions circulate all around the world. In this article, I'll explain the phenomenon of carbon leakage and will suggest ways to assess emissions in a more precise way. Many western and northern European countries can serve as examples of the above mentioned “carbon ...

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  What is an Environmental Product Declaration? And What is it Good ...

  February 21, 2012    3 Comments

  When talking about product labels that deal with the environment, it is often argued that there is an excessive variety of labels swamping consumers with information they don't understand. I have to admit that you can indeed call them irritating, this vast number of redundant "eco labels" invented by creative marketing departments all around the globe. However, in contrast to the superficial information given by some mainstream companies, environmental product declarations (EPDs) give consumers serious information. Thoroughly assessed, easily verifiable, and transparently made, EPDs visualize ...

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  ecoinvent - The Swiss Army Knife of LCA Background Databases

  December 10, 2011    2 Comments

  Background databases can be very convenient when you assess all of the impacts a product or a service has on the environment. Such an assessment is widely known as a life cycle assessment (LCA); it analyzes everything - from raw material extraction through materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair and maintenance, to disposal or recycling (see Wikipedia definition of LCA). Good databases allow an LCA be to carried out precisely, even when there is a lack of complete information. Three Types of Data Sources Generally speaking, there are three options for the data you use as...

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  How Traditional Cost Accounting Methods Resolve Carbon Footprint ...

  November 26, 2011    1 Comment

  Life cycle assessment (LCA), in simplified definition, is a task that uncovers all environmental effects a process or a product creates. It is a difficult task and one that is complex. Why is it so complex? Mainly, because the environment can be harmed in multiple ways and because emissions can have multiple levels of impact. A usual life cycle analysis focuses on six different goals or six ways in which the environment needs to be protected. To mention the most important ones: there is the greenhouse effect, the ozone hole, eutrophication, noise emission, human toxicity and eco toxicity. Incl...

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  French Environmental Labeling – Industrial Experience Feedback

  November 14, 2011    2 Comments

  EVEA Conseil is a French Umberto partner and a leading consultancy firm for Life Cycle Assessment and Ecodesign. The LCA project described in this article results in two main improvements. The labeling allows customers to consider environmental indicators relevant for their purchasing decisions. It has also pushed many manufacturers (Leroy Merlin suppliers) to assess their environmental impact trough Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Context and goal of the project According to the french environmental labeling experimentation launched by the Sustainable Development Ministry, the goal of ...

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  Food Footprints: Subjective Consumer Perception vs. Profound LCA ...

  November 1, 2011    5 Comments

  Today is World Vegan Day. Vegans are people ethically very consequent. Even more consequent than vegetarians. Vegans don't eat products that derive from living beings - no cheese, no milk, no honey. Personally, i have a lot of respect for vegans, since they act by conviction. A vegan stands by what he or she believes in, since the vast majority of animal related food production fail to comply with ethically responsible conditions. Large scale factory farming and animal transport over large distances are not in keeping with the promise of the picturesque rustic agriculture of our grand mother's...