Rayban Sunglasses

It is summer. Your old sunglasses are a mess.. the glass is full of scratches and after asking about the possibility of repairing them, you finally decide that it is time to buy a new pair.

After trying many models, the final decision is between 2 Rayban  models: Aviator and Wayfarer.

 

Instead of choosing according to economical or esthetical reasons, you have decided to get the most environmental friendly one. You are lucky, since both models have an Environmental Product Declaration under the EPD International system: www.environdec.com

 

Here you are a summary of the results that you can find checking both studies:

 

- For both:  The declared unit is represented by a pair of sunglasses as delivered to the final costumer, i.e. with the sunglass case and cleaning cloth. Packaging is included in the declared unit, as it allows fulfilling the functionality of the product.

 

AVIATOR EPD SUMMARY:

 

 

 

 

WAYFARER EPD SUMMARY:

 

When using a methodology called Ecoindicator 99 we can obtain an aggreggated indicator. In those EPDs the total environmental of the two models was:

 

	Cradle-to-Gate Life Cycle ECOINDICATOR 99  (pt)
AVIATOR	0,345
WAYFARER	0,296

IN CONCLUSION, it seems that the WAYFARER model is more environmental friendly that the other model due to its lower non renewable resources consumption and electricity consumption during the manifacturing (check the rest of the EPC for more details).

  

 

 



LCM2013

I am sorry for not keeping my promise of writing a post every day.. In fact I am currently attending the LCM Conference 2013 in Goteborg, so I will come back to you after the conference with many new and interesting topics and I will try to catch up on time.
Thanks for your patience.

Grocery bags

Which type of bag is most sustainable?

a) a one use paper bag
b) a one use plastic bag
c) a reusable tote bag made from cotton
d) a reusable tote bag made from recycled plastic

Source: Life Cycle Assessment for Three Types of Grocery Bags - Recyclable Plastic; Compostable, Biodegradable Plastic; and Recycled, Recyclable Paper, Prepared for the Progressive Bag Alliance by Chet Chaffee and Bernard R. Yaros; Boustead Consulting & Associates  Ltd., 2007. 

 

Probably, after looking at the graphic above, we would say that we prefer the reusable cotton bag, however:

• cotton-farming process is extremely fossil-fuel-intensive
• conventionally grown cotton uses more insecticides than any other single crop (according to the Pesticide Action Network of North America)
• most cotton bags are woven in developing countries where labor conditions are controversial.

Therefore.. probably the best option would be:

d) a reusable tote bag made from recycled plastic

Source: Paper, Plastic, or Cotton Tote Bag? What Life Cycle Assessments. Tell Us About the Sustainability of Everyday Items. David Tyler, Department of Chemistry, University of Oregon (3/21/2013)
http://rubiconsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Paper-Plastic-or-Cotton-Tote-Taylor-March-21-2013.pdf


However the best option would probably be the cotton bag if it was made from sustainable cotton like the textiles from DEM COLLECTIVE, a really interesting Swedish textile Brand.

I have broken the screen on my iphone 4

"I have broken the screen on my iphone 4"  is not just the title of this post but the reality.. less than 3 hours ago my mobile phone decided to test the gravity law and jumped from the table to the floor.. and the result is that the front screen is broken.

So.. the question is: what is more environmentally friendly to repair it or to get a new one?

The answer seems easy but.. probably it will depend on where the technical service is, from where comes from the new screen, which mode of transport is used for their transportation, the amount and type of energy used to repair it, and what do we do with the old and broken screen?

Would it be possible that the new phone was made using less resources, in a more energy efficient process, coming from a nearer place and that the new phone consumes less energy when recharging its battery, and that the new battery is done with less toxic materials?? in that case (imaginary case).. maybe it would be better to get a new one than repair the old one..

Therefore, even though it seems almost impossible that getting a new mobile phone was a better option than just repairing a part of it, I was trying to make you realise that it would be possible..and that the answer should be based on an LCA.

You can check the following figures that come from the presentation of Romas Malevicius
 "An application of LCA. Environmental impact of iPhone 3GS & iPhone 4" (07.03.2010) and you will see that iphone 4 is (in theory) more environmental friendly (in terms of material use and CO2 emissions) than the previous one but probably less that the new one..

In conclusion.. what am I going to do with my broken mobile phone?? The answer.. tomorrow ;)

References:
http://www.apple.com/environment/faq/
http://www.ftms.edu.my/pdf/Download/UndergraduateStudent/internationalenvironmental/LCA_07.03.pdf

ONE COFFEE PLEASE

6:30 am. The alarm rings. You need a coffee to wake up and become a person.

You go like a zombie to the kitchen decided to have a coffee.. but, which kind of coffee?

Instant coffee, filter coffee or capsule coffee?

-  Instant coffee is cheaper but tastes worse.
 - Filter coffee tastes better but you need to boil too much water and you will end throwing up the coffee once it gets cold.
 - Capsule coffee tastes even better and reduces the amount of green coffee needed but produces more packaging waste.

It is not an easy question and even more if you take into account that you are still asleep.

Maybe this study will help you to take the decision: http://www.lcacenter.org/LCA9/presentations/92.pdf

Where you can find the following comparison of the impact of the 3 coffees for many impact cathegories:

To summarize, the results of the LCA showed that instant coffee had a lower overall environmental footprint than filter and capsule coffee with the former having the worst environmental footprint of the three.

	Instant coffee	Filter coffee	Capsule coffee
Energy consumption (MJ/cup)	1.25	2.25	1.85
Carbon footprint (gCO2eq/cup)	75	120	110
Water use (l/cup)	13	29	21

Almost all studies agree in stating that the main phases responsible of impacts are: 1) green coffee cultivation and processing and 2) machine use. Machine and packaging production, transport and waste treatment are secondary phases in terms of environmental impact.

However, as you know that not everything is B&W, you will find some other references stating different figures, because their inventory data is different or their hypothesis or their interests..:

http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/lifecycleassessment_en_120808.pdf

“Like any system, portion coffee has advantages and disadvantages. The production of

the capsule has some impacts. However, the benefit of a portion system is actually that

it reduces waste of brewed coffee and reduces the amount of green coffee needed by

ensuring a better extraction. This means that depending on the different scenarios (for

example, how much prepared coffee is wasted in a traditional system or if the capsule

is recycled and an economic machine is used), a Nespresso coffee can have a lower

impact than a traditional one.“

http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/CoffeeTea

For drinking one standard cup of coffee in the Netherlands we need about 140 litres of water, by far the largest part for growing the coffee plant.

http://www.saiplatform.org/uploads/Library/090312_Tchibo_Kaffee_en_A4_lowres.pdf

Functional Unit: Provision of one cup of Tchibo Privat Kaffee Rarity Machare, made with 7g coffee powder  and 125ml of water => About 50-100 gCO2eq/cup

Some other references:

http://www.appropedia.org/LCA_of_coffee

http://www.fcgov.com/climatewise/pdf/coffee.pdf

http://bsalinas.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/coffeeposter.jpg

http://www.coffeemachinesreviews.co.uk/news/coffeemachines-news/dolce-gusto-coffee-machines-on-track-to-reduce-impact-on-environment

Finally.. do not forget about social and health issues.. in this blog we will focus on environmental aspects but I will encourage you to go deeper in all aspects of sustainability.

So, why not read the following link while having a coffee?
 http://www.coffeeresearch.org/politics/fairtrade.htm

Why?

I decided to start this blog in order to answer to all those who ask me about my job. What is it about? What is exactly what you do? After some dubitation I realized that the easiest and probably the most understandable way to talk about Life Cycle Assessment is with examples.  So here you are this blog: every day, during one year, I will post one example of LCA studies, comparisons or related issues. Many of the examples will come from external sources (from university studies to private companies.. which may have private interests on the results..) but I will also post some figures from my own studies.

Take all data from this blog as indicative, not as completely reliable and truly, because as you know.. things are not always black or white, they will probably be grey.

In conclusion, LCA is the clue to determine, for almost every decision of your life, whether is better to take one option or another.. however sometimes the answer will not be so easy..

Let's start the show!