And what is it? Well it should be a number given to everything that is for sale and it would determine the impact it has on the environment.
For instance, think about a cereal box. The cereal box has several components: The box, the bag the cereal comes in and the cereal itself.
To calculate the EIU or Environmental Impact Unit, we would have to see how the cereal box was made and how it impacted the environment. What impact on the environment did the box, the bag and the cereal have before it landed on your grocery shelf and what impact will the cereal box create on the environment once you’ve disposed of it. What happens to the bag that contains the cereal and the box itself whether they get recycled or not? What happens to the cereal in the event that it is eaten or not eaten, environmentally speaking.
A box of cereal at a store would have it’s price, say $3.00 and the EIU. So the cost would be $3.00 + x EIUs.
It is time that we consumers start demanding what impact our purchases have on the environment and what is it that we own and hold in our hands when we purchase or buy something. It is time to become responsible for our ownership, and hold companies accountable for what they produce. We need to assign a EIU to every product that is for sale. Only then will consumers have a more comprehensible idea of it’s real cost, not it’s partial human determined cost.
I encourage everyone to start a conversation on how to best calculate a formula for this EIU. For example:
EIU = Time to manufacture + Energy Consumption + Time to degrade back into the environment + Toxicity level for other beings + Mortality level for other beings
Copyright © 2013 Jorge Luis Carbajosa
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Environmental Impact Number or Environmental Impact Unit
March 14, 2013And what is it? Well it should be a number given to everything that is for sale and it would determine the impact it has on the environment.
For instance, think about a cereal box. The cereal box has several components: The box, the bag the cereal comes in and the cereal itself.
To calculate the EIU or Environmental Impact Unit, we would have to see how the cereal box was made and how it impacted the environment. What impact on the environment did the box, the bag and the cereal have before it landed on your grocery shelf and what impact will the cereal box create on the environment once you’ve disposed of it. What happens to the bag that contains the cereal and the box itself whether they get recycled or not? What happens to the cereal in the event that it is eaten or not eaten, environmentally speaking.
A box of cereal at a store would have it’s price, say $3.00 and the EIU. So the cost would be $3.00 + x EIUs.
It is time that we consumers start demanding what impact our purchases have on the environment and what is it that we own and hold in our hands when we purchase or buy something. It is time to become responsible for our ownership, and hold companies accountable for what they produce. We need to assign a EIU to every product that is for sale. Only then will consumers have a more comprehensible idea of it’s real cost, not it’s partial human determined cost.
I encourage everyone to start a conversation on how to best calculate a formula for this EIU. For example:
EIU = Time to manufacture + Energy Consumption + Time to degrade back into the environment + Toxicity level for other beings + Mortality level for other beings
Copyright © 2013 Jorge Luis Carbajosa
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