Eco-Benchmark

A tool for illustrating the environmental impacts of consumption

Eco-Benchmark is an evolving tool for describing comprehensibly and reliably the environmental impacts of consumption.

The Eco-Benchmark aims to help consumers to understand

• Which products and choices are important for the environment?
• Which alternatives are best for the environment?

 The appropriate way to evaluate the environmental impacts of consumer decisions is to analyse and present them according to the "cradle-to-grave" principle, using a method called lifecycle assessment (LCA). LCA involves calculating the different kinds of emissions to air and discharges to water and soil, and the use of natural resources - throughout the entire product lifecycle.

Even though LCA is widely endorsed and is becoming increasingly popular, not much thought has been given to how its results are presented to consumers.  That is why LCA researchers and consumer researchers have jointly launched the Eco-Benchmark project.

The Eco-Benchmark can be used to determine the scale of the environmental impacts of different products and services: for example, the relative importance of doing the laundry compared to overall consumption. It can also be used to compare alternative solutions, such as, the environmental merits of taking the bus rather than using one´s own car.

The Finnish Environment Institute, in co-operation with the National Consumer Research Centre, MTT Agrifood Research Finland and the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute, led the Eco-Benchmark project. The project was part of the Environmental Cluster Research Programme co-ordinated by the Ministry of the Environment and was scheduled to run until the end of 2005.

Further information:

Ari Nissinen, Senior Researcher, Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), firstname.surname@ymparisto.fi [ari nissinen]