When it comes to sustainability, an important concept in identifying truly "green" solutions is looking at the full life cycle of an initiative or product. Sometimes projects that sound environmentally-friendly aren't necessarily all they're cracked up to be. Take, for example, the idea of using disposable plates instead of reusable ones to save water during a drought.
While that might seem like a good idea on the local level, is this truly sustainable? Disposable plates still require water and other materials to create, and will emit greenhouse gases when it ends up in the landfill. Greenhouse gases contribute to climate change which also contributes to drought. While this may shift the impact elsewhere, life cycle-thinking is critical in ensuring your initiatives are environmentally-sound.
Want a more quantitative approach to figure out the full life-cycle impacts of your measures? Just contact Sundowner for a life-cycle inventory or general advice on the best course of action.
While that might seem like a good idea on the local level, is this truly sustainable? Disposable plates still require water and other materials to create, and will emit greenhouse gases when it ends up in the landfill. Greenhouse gases contribute to climate change which also contributes to drought. While this may shift the impact elsewhere, life cycle-thinking is critical in ensuring your initiatives are environmentally-sound.
Want a more quantitative approach to figure out the full life-cycle impacts of your measures? Just contact Sundowner for a life-cycle inventory or general advice on the best course of action.
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