1 Global Connections: Forests of the World Activity 8 Making Consumer Choices.

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Global Connections:

Forests of the World

Activity 8

Making Consumer Choices

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Objectives

Conduct and analyze a life cycle analysis of a forest product, identifying international dimensions of its use locally.

Make recommendations for more “intelligent consumption” of the product.

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Searchable Key Words

forest product certification intelligent consumption life cycle analysis paper life cycle

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Background

Activity 8

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Population growth

An expanding world population means that the average amount of forest land per person is becoming smaller and smaller.

At the same time, the per capita rate of wood consumption is rising.

Even though most of the world’s people still live in poverty, our collective wealth is growing.

With that wealth is a corresponding increase in overall consumption of energy, food, and goods.

Activity 8 - Background

6http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/worldpopgraph.php

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In fact, the consumption of goods from forests has more than doubled in 30 years and will likely

continue to increase.


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The country that consumes the most wood by far is the United States, with a per capita consumption of wood that is twice the average for other developed countries and nearly three times the average for the world as a whole.

Supporting the expanding world population at anything approaching current United States consumption would impose a huge burden on the world’s forests.


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Contradiction: Should people consume less wood?

The Report of the Intelligent Consumption Project (2001) strongly cautions:

“Contrary to expectations, the result could be highly adverse to the environment in the U.S. and globally. Reduction of wood consumption,

without accompanying success in reducing consumption in general, would likely lead to a

number of undesirable consequences...”


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Material substitution

Materials substituted for wood generally have more environmental and social costs associated with them. For example, replacing wood framing with metal framing in construction would result in

more fossil fuels for energy being burned, an increase in metallic mining, and heavier

environmental and social costs than logging.


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Intelligent consumption

Definition: Consider what and how much we consume and make the best choices in products on the basis of information about their environmental, social, and monetary costs.

The term was first coined by noted U.S. conservationist Aldo Leopold in the 1940s


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The aim

“Strike a balance between our desires as consumers and our responsibility as

citizens.” (United Nations Environment Programme )

This balance means making choices that are the least detrimental to the environment and that respect people’s rights to live and work in good conditions.


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A critical part of intelligent consumption…

…is knowing the environmental and social costs of a product or service.

One tool: Life cycle assessment

Definition: A life cycle assessment identifies all the inputs and outputs associated with a particular product from the raw materials, through manufacture and use and then to the final disposal. This “cradle-to-grave” analysis can help both consumers and producers make intelligent decisions about that product.


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Life Cycle Analysis or Assessment (LCA)

LCA is a technique to assess the environmental aspects and potential impacts associated with a product, process, or service, by:

• compiling an inventory of relevant energy and material inputs and environmental releases;

• evaluating the potential environmental impacts associated with identified inputs and releases;

• interpreting the results to help you make a more informed decision.

http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/lcaccess/


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A critical part of intelligent consumption…

…is knowing the environmental and social costs of a product or service.

Another tool: Product Certification

Definition: To be certified, an independent third party conducts a detailed audit of the product’s manufacture to confirm that the wood used is from forests meeting certain environmental standards.


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Doing the activity

Activity 8

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Activity 1: Making connection

a. What connections might there be between the paper we use at school and forests around the world?

b. What effects might our paper use have on the world’s forests?

c. What types of paper (copy paper, paper towels, and so on) does our school use?

d. From which parts of the world do you think our school’s paper originated?

Activity 8 – Doing the activity

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Activity 2: Doing an audit

Goal: to learn as much as possible about the life cycle of one particular forest product used at school— from source to final destination—to find out what the international dimensions of its use are and whether the school could consume this product more intelligently.


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Prepare a project plan

The plan should include:

1. who will do what task,

2. what the methods are for doing each task,

3. and what the timeline is for completing the tasks.


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Presentation

a. Prepare a visual representation (such as a map or flowchart) of what you learned about international aspects of the school’s paper use

b. Give recommendations for consuming paper more intelligently at school


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Activity 3: Discussion

a. What did you find out about paper consumption at the school?b. What most surprised you about the information you gathered?c. What findings most affected the recommendation you made?d. Which recommendation(s) would have the biggest effect on

paper consumption at school?e. How would the recommendation(s) affect other resources? Are

those effects acceptable? Are they sustainable?f. Which recommendation(s) would save the school the most

money?g. Which would do the most to reduce the need for new paper

fibers?h. Which would be the easiest to implement? Why?i. Which would be most difficult? Why?j. What would it take to implement those recommendations?k. What strategies could be used to encourage people to

implement those recommendations?


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Considering all the recommendations…

…which recommendation(s) will we present to the school administration or school community?


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Assessment

Draw a flowchart that represents the path that paper takes from

forest, to production, to use, and to final disposal, including what you

learned about each step.

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Enrichment

Activity 8

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Research different sources of fiber for paper (such as bamboo, cotton, flax, hemp, and kenaf).

Determine the pros and cons of using the different sources.

a. What would be the environmental effects of switching fiber sources?

b. What do you think consumers need to know to make the most intelligent choices about paper?

Using a different sources of fiberActivity 8 – Enrichment 1

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Research and evaluate different forest product certification systems in terms of the level of

information and assurance they provide consumers.

Forest product certification systems

Activity 8 – Enrichment 2

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Labels• Certification programs offer a

range of product and promotional labels that allow organizations to make claims associated with involvement in the program and in certain instances to make claims related to the certified content in the product they sell.

• This helps consumers identify and give preference to products from well managed forests.

Activity 8 – Enrichment

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All products affect the environment because they use raw materials, energy, and water. Design a

wood product that minimizes the effects yet offers the most utility.

For example: the product may use recycled raw materials, be assembled so that different components can be repaired or replaced, have little or no packaging, or be manufactured locally to reduce transportation impacts.

Resource: See the United Nations Environment Programme’s Resource Kit on Sustainable Consumption and Production (in Resources section) for more ideas.

TechnologyActivity 8 – Enrichment - Technology

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Resource

• United Nations Environment Programme’s Resource Kit on Sustainable Consumption and Production: http://www.unep.org/pdf/sc/SC_resourcekit.pdf

•Life cycle assessment: http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/lcaccess/

http://www.unep.org/pdf/sc/SC_resourcekit.pdf

http://www.unep.org/pdf/sc/SC_resourcekit.pdf

http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/lcaccess/

1 Global Connections: Forests of the World Activity 8 Making Consumer Choices.

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