Resources and Life Cycle Assessments

• What are some purposes for which humans use natural resources?

  Fuel, shelter, clothing, food, transport
• What can replace certain natural resources like rubber?

  Agricultural or synthetic products
• What are finite resources?

  Resources that will eventually run out
• What are renewable resources?

  Resources that reform at a similar rate as usage
• What is a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)?

  An assessment of a product's environmental impact
• What are the stages of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)?

  1. Raw Materials
  2. Manufacturing and Packaging
  3. Using the Product
  4. Product Disposal
• What is the raw material for a plastic bag?

  Crude oil
• How is crude oil processed for plastic bags?

  Key compounds extracted by fractional distillation
• What is a characteristic of plastic bags regarding disposal?

  Reusable and recyclable, not biodegradable
• What is the raw material for a paper bag?

  Timber
• What is a disadvantage of using timber for paper bags?

  It takes a lot of energy to pulp timber
• What is a characteristic of paper bags regarding disposal?

  Single-use, biodegradable, and recyclable
• Which factors in LCA are easily quantified?

  Water, energy sources, and waste
• What makes some factors in LCA hard to measure?

  They depend on personal opinions
• What is a selective LCA?

  LCA with removed information for bias
• How does selective LCA affect product advertising?

  It makes products look better than they are