Thus, I propose an "Eco-Rating" label that company's should be required to clearly display on their products.
It could be a simple color rating system like so:
Where:
Red = Very harmful to the environment (i.e. does not biodegrade for a thousand years, pollutes ground water in landfills, etc)
Yellow = Somewhat Harmful to the environment (i.e. takes 50 years to biodegrade, uses non-renewable energy, etc)
Green = Very environment friendly (i.e. Safely biodegrades and does not harm ground water in landfills, made with/from renewable energy, etc)
The First color would indicate how environment friendly this product was to Create this product (manufacture/produce it) - This would include factors such as how much pollution was produced to create this product.
The Second color would indicate how environment friendly this product is to Use it - This would include factors such as how much pollution is caused from using this product (i.e. toxic chemicals that end up in our ocean as a result of using a drain cleaner, etc), or how much non-renewable energy is needed to use this product.
The Third color would indicate how environment friendly this product is to Dispose of it - This would include factors such as how long this product takes to bio-degrade (i.e. Styrofoam cups take a very long time to bio-degrade)
Thus a bottle of water might have a "Yellow-Green-Red" rating:
Yellow - because it used non-renewable energy to produce/filter the water
Green - because it does not pollute at all to use it
Red - because the empty plastic bottle takes over a hundred years to biodegrade)
Thus, when you are purchasing a product, lets say at the super-market, you can easily see and purchase the most environment-friendly product for your needs.
This system would expose the often unknown harmful-to-the environment facts that many products manufacturer's don't want you to know and force them to find ways to bring each "stage" (color squares) of a products lifetime into a "Green" color because who wants to but a product knowing it has two red squares, thus meaning this product harms our world significantly?
8 comments:
Nice idea. I appreciate your approach to our very real environmental problems....
4four1ones
www.lockergnome.com/4four1ones
John,
The problem with some of this idea does not fit the political environment. With you 'red' label the Toyota Prius would fall into this category because of the batteries. As you can see all the hype about the environment will only cause all green cars with silver or nickel batteries will fall quickly to the wayside.
Dave
Hey Dave,
Thanks for taking the time to comment on my post.
This post was meant to be more of an concept for a new way to inform the public how various products effect our world.
With some tweaks to address issues such as yours, I think it still could be a good starting point.
Hi John,
Great concept! If you want to start lobbying for it I'd help once it was a little more refined.
I came on here by accident, but I shall return.
David in Melbourne
Hi David,
Thanks for your support.
I'll revisit this issue soon to see whats needed to get it to the next step.
let's have rating system all the best keep doing you work.
Rating System for all products wish he all the best.
This is a fun blog. I wish you had kept it going. I think this idea is OK but not mature.
I too have an idea for a rating system. This one is for zoos. I'd like an objective source on info on whether a zoo:
- really contributes to the survival of their species by sharing animals, contributing to breeding
- really contributes to research
- really provides a humane appropriate environment for them.
I'd also like people to pay attention to the best unscramble game (note the environmental lists) !
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