Total Carbon Ownership?

Many retailers and brands are now scrambling to position themselves as “Green”. As Carbon becomes the “New Satan” consumers are increasingly seeking reassurances that they are not burning the sacrifices on the wrong altar. Seeking even the slightest form of reassurance that somehow their purchase is going to keep the rivers flowing and the birds flying, they latch on to labels and signs of “eco-absolution”.

But how does this help? Just about everybody is using a different standard. How can I compare between brands or between retailers? Tesco has been quick to call in the Cambridge cavalry, yet, until an industry wide standard is accepted, the consumer will have little help and can continue being blissful.

So how do you measure a carbon footprint? There are many sites now offering quick answers with the obligatory dose of tutt-tutting. But where do you start?

The carbon footprint of an idea:
Did the designer draw up the idea on an energy saving PC or with a pencil and paper and was the pencil made from sustainable sources? Recycled paper that is chlorine free? How many copies did they run off before they were happy with the final product? And just how were those printer cartridges produced and transported?

Nope, I think we’ll stick to the products designed with pencil and paper.

Then came the sourcing trip and all good intentions flew out the window. The good news is that the product manager or sourcing agent can fly first, business or economy with exactly the same carbon footprint! The fedex package with the first and second prototype too!

The carbon footprint of the t-shirt:
So I suppose we’ll opt for the hand stitched prototype shipped to the factory.

What I wonder though is: "how do we account for the waste before, during and after a product is produced?" A high fashion item will go out of fashion quickly. This leads to many of its kind being made redundant and taken off shelves to be burned (in e-bay auctions or real furnaces) leading to spiraling carbon costs, after the product has been delivered to the retailer and displayed. A dark carbon “second life” begins. Does my individual T-shirt carry the carbon weight of all its failed siblings? Am I now compelled to buy only M&S standard ware that can be found year in and year out without the risk of redundancy?

The carbon footprint of the value chain:
There are already strong signs that politicians and small business alike are relishing the prospect of promoting local industry on the basis that it saves excess transportation and emissions. In supermarkets local apples are now again on equal footing with those Spanish and Brazilian imports. Will this newfound interest in sourcing strategy be extended to product design? More options means more emissions after all. So will we calculate for the Total Cost of Ownership?

The implication is that consumers will increasingly buy “process” rather than “product” How does this affect branding and communication? How will we make “process” obvious at the point of purchase?