Friday, April 4, 2008

Stamp a carbon number on all sustainable products

That's right, just like the FDA did for food. A list of all major carbon expenditures would also be nice, on the side of the box.

I want to know (and the company to tell me, verified by a 3rd party or the govt) why the product you are selling me is referred to as "Green" or "Sustainably Produced". One can calculate an average of the total embodied energy and carbon in most things. While you may not know what happened to the product once it hit the shelf, you'd know it's carbon footprint right up until then.

Where was it made? How much energy was required to make each unit? How far did it travel before it was unpacked and readied for sale, and how energy intense was that traveling? Once it is used, can I return it, recycle it, reuse it or must it be landfilled?

This won't be an option as the energy crisis worsens and climate change laws begin to go into effect globally. Companies need to get on this now, or be forced to later.