Carbon Footprints and Life-cycle Assessments — Educational Resources

Measuring to reduce is a basic sustainability concept.* Carbon footprints and life-cycle assessments inform sustainable business initiatives, government policies and consumer choices.

CARBON FOOTPRINTS provide the necessary data for developing goals and strategies to reduce emissions from the six Kyoto Protocol greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆). We can measure the carbon footprints of products, services, buildings, institutions and organizations, such as universities and companies, cities and even entire countries.** Here, I will focus on product and digital carbon footprints.

The life-cycle carbon footprint of a product measures its carbon emission from the extraction of raw materials through disposal.

The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol identifies three scopes of emission for a carbon footprint, which is measured in CO₂e (carbon dioxide equivalent).

Scope 1: direct emissions from the on-site combustion of fossil fuels for the production of electricity, heating and cooling, and company vehicles.

Scope 2: indirect emissions from purchased electricity and offsite heating and cooling sources, such as steam or chilled water.

Scope 3: relates to upstream and downstream emissions that are not controlled by a company. Sources of upstream (supply chain) emissions include transportation used by suppliers, purchased goods and services, and waste disposal. Downstream (use and disposal) emission sources include transportation and distribution to customers, the processing and use of sold products and the end-of-life disposal or recycling of sold products.

• Ben Lilliston, “Latest Agriculture Emissions Data Show Rise of Factory Farms,” Common Dreams, April 1, 2019.
• Damian Carrington, “Huge reduction in meat-eating ‘essential’ to avoid climate breakdown,” The Guardian, October 10, 2018.
• Rhitu Chatterjee, “What’s the Environmental Footprint of a Loaf of Bread? Now We Know,” All Things Considered, National Public Radio (NPR), February 27, 2017.
• Better Meets Reality, “Foods with the Highest Carbon Footprint & Impact on Climate Change,” November 24, 2018.
• Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch, “Shining a Light on Carbon Emissions and Seafood.”
• April Fulton, “Want to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint? Choose Mackerel Over Shrimp,” NPR, July 29, 2014.
• Andrew Martin, “How Green is My Orange?,” The New York Times, January 22, 2009. See the related visuals, “Tracking Carbon Footprints to the Breakfast Table.”
• Liz Frances, “What is the Carbon Footprint of a Bottle of Wine?,” Sestra, April 17, 2017.
• Sarah McColl, “Coffee’s Invisible Carbon Footprint,” Ecowatch, February 17, 2016.
• Cathy Siegner, “Impossible Burger boasts much smaller carbon footprint than beef,” Food Dive, March 22, 2019.

• Phil Riebel, “Our Carbon Footprint: How Do Paper Products Fit In?,” Printing Impressions, March 22, 2018.

• Cynthia Commis and Yelena Akopion, “How Fashion Companies Can Collaborate to Tackle Their Biggest Sources of Carbon Pollution,” World Resources Institute, June 25, 2019.
• Megan Cerullo, “Fashion industry’s carbon impact bigger than airline industry’s,” CBS News, April 19, 2019.
• “Brands like Eileen Fisher, Patagonia try to curb carbon footprint,” CBS News, November 20, 2018.
• “The carbon footprint of getting dressed,” Ecotricity, December 3, 2018.

• Hayley Tsukayama, “How bad is email for the environment?,” The Washington Post, January 25, 2017. [Note: According to the “Email Statistics Report, 2015-2019” issued by The Radicati Group, a technology marketing firm, almost 300 billion e-mails will be exchanged in 2019.]
• Burgess Powell, “Bitcoin’s Annual Carbon Footprint Is Bigger Than Switzerland’s,” Blocklr, August 21, 2018.
• Greenpeace USA, “Clicking Clean: Who is Winning the Race to Build a Green Internet?,” January 2017.
• Irina Ivanova, “Amazon has yet to reveal its climate footprint. Activists say it’s massive,” Moneywatch, CBS News, updated May 24, 2019.

• Louis Hansen, “A growing problem: Lightening the carbon footprint of cannabis farms,” The Mercury News, October 2, 2017. [Note: The amount of energy and water used for growing marijuana plants is increasing as more states decriminalize or legalize marijuana.]

• Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), “Cement companies must more than double efforts to meet Paris climate goals.” April 9, 2018. [Note: For more information on this non-profit organization, see the CDP website.]
• John Vidal, “Concrete is tipping us into climate catastrophe. It’s payback time,” The Guardian, February 25, 2019. [Note: Cement is a key ingredient in concrete, but concrete and cement are two different products.]

• Brad Plumer, "Trailing Carbon Footprints Across Borders," The New York Times, September 6, 2018.

• Damien Carrington, "Climate crisis: today's children face life with tiny carbon footprints," The Guardian, April 10, 2019.
• Nature Conservancy, "Consider Your Impact: Carbon Calculator - What's your carbon footprint? Use this interactive calculator to find out - and take action."
• Chris Goodall, "How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint," The Guardian, January 29, 2017.
• Nassos Stylianau, Clara Guibourg and Helen Briggs, "Climate change food calculator: What's your diet's carbon footprint?," BBC News, December 13, 2018.
• Meredith Rosenberg, "5 Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint Now," Ecowatch, October 26, 2018.
• EPA, Household Carbon Footprint Calculator

• BBC, “What happens to products at the end of their useful life? – OCR 21 C.”
• Lise Laurin, “How Can LCA Achieve Better Alignment with the Circular Economy?,” EarthShift Global, February 21, 2019.
• Jeff Yorzyk, “Unpacking the Layers of Life Cycle Assessments,” Triple Pundit, Oct 20, 2014.

• Napa Green certification for vineyards and wineries in the Napa Valley in California. [Note: The Sierra Club is a Napa Green partner.]
• Shana Clarke, “Why Some Wineries Are Becoming ‘Certified B Corp’ — and What That Means.” National Public Radio (NPR), May 13, 2019. [Note: B Corp certification is based on five impact areas: customers, workers, community, suppliers and the environment. B Corp companies include Eileen Fisher and Patagonia, mentioned above. For more information, see the Certified B Corporation website.]

• Sappi North America 2018 Sustainability Report. See also the Sappi North America April 25, 2019 press release on this 2018 sustainability report.
• Sappi Fine Paper North America, “Elevating Your Environmental Knowledge,” eQ Journal, Issue 2, 2010. [Note: eQ refers to Environmental Quotient.]

• Olivia Rosane, “‘Plastic is Lethal’: Groundbreaking Report Reveals Health Risks at Every Stage in Plastics Life Cycle,” Ecowatch, February 22, 2019.
• Christopher Joyce, “Microplastics Have Invaded the Deep Ocean — And Our Food Chain,” All Things Considered, NPR, June 6, 2019.
• Carroll Muffett, “The Earth’s climate is paying for our addiction to plastic,” The Guardian, June 25, 2019.

• Daniel Goleman and Gregory Norris, “OP-CHART: How Green Is my iPad?,” The New York Times, April 4, 2010.
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “The Secret Life of a Smartphone,” June 2015.
• Environmental Literacy Organization, “Life Cycle Analysis of a Computer Chip Life Cycle,” 2015.
• Greenpeace, “Guide to Greener Electronics,” October 17, 2017.

• Karen Zraick, “Real vs Artificial Christmas Trees: Which Is the Greener Choice?,” The New York Times, November 26, 2018.

• Andrea Kennedy, “Six Sustainable Practices for Success in Tomorrow’s Fashion Industry,” Fashion Mannuscript, February 1, 2018.
• Maria Cristina Pavarini, “How the Fashion Industry Signed the First Charter for Climate Change,” Sportswear International, December 19, 2018.
• Tatiana Schlossberg, “Fig Leaves Are Out. What to Wear to Be Kind to the Planet?,”The New York Times, May 24, 2017.
• Ellen MacArthur Foundation – Circular Economy Case Studies: Tee Mill, “An open access circular supply chain for fashion.” [Note: For more information on the circular economy, see the website of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.]
• Andrea Kennedy, “The Results Are in . . . Our Clothes Don’t Fit,” The Fashion Studies Journal, September 3, 2017.
• Denise Chow, “Fight Against Plastic Pollution Targets a Hidden Source: Our Clothes,” NBC News, May 5, 2019.
• Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Product Environmental Footprint (PEF)
• Patagonia Footprint Chronicles [Note: This interactive website focuses on the environmental impacts of Patagonia’s supply chain.]
• Lorraine Chow, “Who is Really Paying for Our Cheap Clothes?,” Ecowatch, April 20, 2015.
• Stanley Reed, “Fighting Climate Change, One Laundry Load at a Time,” The New York Times, January 1, 2018.

• “High-rise Passive House in NYC”
• “The Drawdown Project to Reverse Global Warming”
• “Initiatives to Reduce Plastic Pollution”
• “The Social Cost of Carbon & Why It Matters”
• “Ecological Footprints and One Planet Living”
• “Five Years of Activism: NYC Commits to Fossil Fuel Divestment”
• See also Judith S. Weis, “Microplastics — an Issue Both Tiny and Huge.”

** For example, Local Law 22 (2008), introduced as Int. 0756-2008, mandates the annual inventory and analysis of NYC’s greenhouse gas emissions. At an international level, all signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which includes the US, must submit an annual Greenhouse Gas Inventory. For the recently updated Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methodology for GHG inventories, see “IPCC Updates Methodology for Greenhouse Gas Inventories,” May 13, 2019.