Ecological issues
- Getting materials can damage the environment: deforestation for timber, mining for metal ores, drilling for oil (for polymers), and farming for cotton, which uses a lot of water and pesticides.
- Products travel long distances (product miles), which burns fuel and adds to their carbon footprint.
- The carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases produced by making, using and disposing of a product.
The 6 Rs
- Reduce: use less material and energy.
- Refuse: don't use materials or products that are bad for the environment.
- Reuse: use a product again, for the same or a new purpose.
- Repair: fix products instead of throwing them away.
- Recycle: reprocess materials to make new products.
- Rethink: design products in a new way to be more sustainable.
Social footprint
- Working conditions: some products are made in factories with long hours, low pay and unsafe conditions.
- Fair trade and ethical sourcing help workers get fair pay and safe conditions.
- Products can affect communities, such as a new factory bringing jobs but also pollution.
Key terms
- Carbon footprint
- The total greenhouse gases produced by a product over its life.
- Product miles
- The distance a product travels from materials to consumer.
- Deforestation
- Cutting down forests without replanting.
- 6 Rs
- Reduce, refuse, reuse, repair, recycle and rethink.
- Social footprint
- A product's impact on people and communities.
- Ethical sourcing
- Getting materials in a way that treats people and the environment fairly.