Chapter 22
Ten Questions to Ask About Your Material Lifecycle
IN THIS CHAPTER
Mapping out the various stages of any material’s lifecycle
Identifying the potential environmental impacts along the way
Developing methods to lessen these negative impacts
Every material has what’s called a lifecycle. That is to say, every material has some type of birth (where it’s initially extracted, processed, manufactured, packaged, and delivered); it has a life (where it’s used, cleaned, maintained, and repaired); and it has a death (where it’s disposed of, repurposed, or reused). Every one of these stages has potentially negative environmental impacts, but the more you understand the lifecycle, the easier it to identify ways to improve it. (We cover this topic in more detail in Chapter 10.)
This chapter lists the questions you should be asking regarding your material in order to better understand the full picture of this lifecycle. By finding answers to these questions, you’ll be able to recognize the environmental impacts of each stage of your material's lifecycle and, more importantly, how to find ways to reduce or mitigate these negative impacts.
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