Over the last 15 years, a growing number of companies have started to look at promoting demand for products that
the environmental impact of their products through what is called life cycle are defined not only by price, quality
assessment (LCA). This requires analyzing at your product from “cradle to and delivery, but by the way in which the
grave”—following the raw materials through their manufacture, transport, sale, product is made. What is different today
use and the disposal of the final end product. Some life cycle concepts even take is that the organic industry has to be
it cradle to cradle, forcing you to think of what your waste can be used as in the cognizant of other sustainability issues
next life (see Dialogue, page 44). Looking at everything you create or purchase that go beyond the chemicals and
from a life cycle perspective can help you identify opportunities to improve effi- practices that define organic on the
ciency, reduce waste, improve quality, save money and provide products that are farm and in processing. Green prac-more environmentally sound. Knowing more about their product life cycle has tices are becoming expectations of the
led companies to make better choices in raw materials, create designs that facili- organic customer.
tate recovery and recycling of materials and construct lighter
weight products that reduce shipping energy. Going Beyond Organic—Taking
Understanding the impact of your product’s Your Business to a Deeper
entire life cycle is the first step to knowing what Shade of Green
you need to change in order to ensure that the “Green As an organic company, you are
whole of your product is truly in line with the already greener than most, but
eco-conscious ideals that drove you to create practices after looking at product life
an organic product in the first place. Start by cycles and the way your business
breaking down every step. Some of the are becoming expectations runs, there are probably steps
biggest ones that organic companies may that can help take your commit-need to take a closer look at include packag- of the organic customer.” ment to the environment to the
ing, transportation, energy and water use, waste next level.
and your office and manufacturing facilities.
Companies can start to get a scope of this on their Create a Sustainability
own through research or get a full professional LCA to Policy/Vision Statement
help break down the details. No matter how you do it—the most important thing As any motivational speaker will tell
is to take control of your whole product process and make it more eco-responsi- you, the success rate of achieving a
ble. Although it can be expensive and time consuming, an official full-scale LCA goal increases when you write it down.
will give a quantitative picture of a wide range of environmental measures includ- Aveda, one of the largest purchasers
ing energy, water and resource inputs along with emissions associated with air of organic personal care ingredients,
and water pollutants and solid and hazardous waste. It is important for all com- included sustainability goals in their
panies to start with the most detailed information available about product inputs mission when they first started their
and manufacturing processes, however, most LCA software providers have creat- company—but it is never too late.
ed databases with detailed life cycle data about inputs and emissions that can be “Our mission at Aveda is to care for
used to approximate impacts. Some of these LCA database providers have col- the world we live in, from the prod-
lected data for organic versions of products such as cotton and hemp textiles. ucts we make to the ways in which we
give back to society. At Aveda, we
strive to set an example for environ-
mental leadership and responsibility,
not just in the world of beauty, but
around the world.”
—Horst Rechalbacher, Founder
These are not just feel-good words
that sit on a shelf. Walk through
Aveda’s corporate offices, manufacturing plant, distribution center and 120-
plus stores and you will find the mission painted on the walls, hung on
posters, repeated in conversations and
used every day. People ask themselves
The Value Chain: Your Partners in Environmental Responsibility
The increasing awareness of life cycle issues has led to demands for accountability throughout the supply chain. Increasingly, product manufacturers and
retailers are turning to their suppliers and asking for a variety of data (
quantitative and qualitative) on the materials and products they purchase and the factories in which things are made. Brands are looking at those suppliers who can
cooperate in efforts to establish quantitative LCAs as long-term partners in maximizing environmental performance. This approach requires that everyone in the
value chain give consideration to what others contribute and demand. Everyone
in the chain must understand the package of market values that are embodied in
a product and how they contribute to the product as a whole.
The organic industry is familiar with this—most organic suppliers understand
that each and every part of the organic supply chain has to take responsibility for
