Lead paint in toys, tainted dog food, factories
pumping tons of carbon into the air to make Barbies, while we turn our
SUV in for a Prius. Feel better now? Before you have a 60s flash back
and begin to boycott Wal-Mart and begin weaving your own hemp cloths,
ask yourself is this really the answer? Many of us still live in
complete ignorance of how the rest of the world lives, but a growing
number of us are starting to get it. We realize that just making
changes that impact our household or perhaps neighborhood are just not
enough. So how can you make a change on a micro level that impacts the
macro world?

I believe people, whether sitting in corporate
boardrooms or working in a dirty plant in some dark corner of the
world, really do care, but change does not happen in a vacuum. What
drives change is empowerment of consumers that forces these factories
to clean up their act. Boardrooms that see profit driven my consumer
demand for cleaner safer products are compelled to change more than if
we all collectively whine. Let’s face it, until we live in a utopian
society where money is abolished; change, real change comes when there
is an incentive "profit" in making a change.

I grew up with
Consumer Reports and spent hours as a kid pouring over all the charts
of bubble ratings. Today things are a little faster passed, consumers
require instant gratification. On-line sites such as Epinions now rate
products as well as allowing you to contribute your own product review
virtually in real-time. What if besides knowing the quality, consumer
satisfaction and performance of a product, you know the product’s
carbon footprint?

As an example, if you are deciding on a
Cleanomatic 2000 and find it equal on all counts, but a little cheaper
than a Mastercleaner 2, but it’s carbon footprint was more than double,
this information would be valuable to you the consumer. Would you
perhaps buy the more marginally expensive product, knowing that it’s
expense to society was smaller? Talk about feeling good about a
purchase decision!

But wait a minute, just think for a moment,
let’s say many thousands of other consumers made a similar buying
decision, would this not have an impact on the dirty producer, the one
that cut corners to shave a few nickels off their price? Would this not
force them clean up their act to remain competitive? Now that is micro
decision having a macro impact.

So how does it work? The key is
simplicity, point of purchase real time accurate information and a
system that is credible. Much like the peer input that created the
likes of Wikipedia, a Carbon Footprint Consumer Index (CFCI) database
would be fed inputs by consumers. Inputs such as a product’s country of
origin, recycleability, packaging content, durability, ISO 14001
certification and resource intensity, would all be factored into a CFCI
algorithm. Let’s say, you are buying a product made in China opposed to
one locally, it is going to take more energy to ship the same product
half way across the world. A product manufactured in a greener facility
in Denmark is going to have a smaller carbon footprint than the same
product made in an outdated dirty factory in Michigan. Japan’s overall
lower green house output per capita is going to fare better when
considered against products from carbon hogs such as the US and China.
Remember the doll under the Christmas tree that Grandpa had to find a
pair of pliers to unravel a dozen plastic twist ties, encased in
paperboard and plastic? Well it’s sure going to have more of carbon
footprint than the same doll with far less packaging.

Consumers
YOU would feed data for the algorithm that drives the CFCI. Much of
this information is readily available, such as the familiar recycling
triangle off the product and country of origin. The more ambitious
consumers would take the time to categorizing the type of packaging
material and its appropriate weight. Even the algorithm for the CFCI
will be developed by users, refined and better made to reflect the
complexities of a product’s true carbon footprint. Different algorithms
eventually would be developed for categories of products, such as
perishables, durable goods and consumer electronics that have different
input considerations.

Simplicity and accessibility of this
information is key. Ideally, you want this information in the palm of
your hand. Most consumers do not carry a copy of Consumer Reports or
check Epinions when making an impulse buy or one that is mundane.
Almost everything these days has a barcode. Companies such as Scanzoom
have taken advantage of the ubiquitous barcode, by developing a product
that turns your cell phone into a barcode reader. Such products could
be made to tie into a CFCI database, allowing instant access to the
product’s rating.

What are the next steps? In the spirit of peer
development that created such blockbusters as Wikipedia and Linux, I am
calling on the collective wisdom of the community to help build a
dynamic system that we all believe in, which is simple to use and
credible. The end goal is empowering all of us as consumers to better
shape our own carbon footprint both on a micro level as well as on a
macro global scale.

All views are encouraged and respected.

To see an example of how a rating would look for the Cleanomatic and Mastercleaner, visit my website.