Year 8 – Homework 4: Sustainable D esigners/ Engineers

1. Year 8 – Homework 4: Sustainable Designers/ Engineers LCA activity TASK 4– Choose a product to analyse the lifecycle of, to answer the questions below. Create a mind map to present your ideas KEY FACTS Carbon Footprint… Another term you may of heard of is ‘Carbon footprint’. At each stage of the product lifecycle, energy is used to process, transport and dispose of the product. The energy needed to produce the product releases carbon dioxide. The carbon footprint is the calculation of the carbon dioxide produced throughout the product’s life. SHEET 1

2. Lifecycle Analysis TASK 1: Lifecycle analysis (LCA) is used to work out the environmental impact of a product throughout its whole life (from extraction of materials through to final disposal). Look at the two products above – what might be the first stage in the product’s lifecycle? Which stage do you think they might look at first? TASK 3: Life Cycle Analysis and people… Companies can also be held to account for the impact on people throughout the product lifecycle. Use the same lifecycle analysis worksheet on the reverse to look at the environmental impact of your product to make a list of all people who might be involved or affected at each stage of the product’s life. An example: Product (denim jeans) Materials: Farmer owner and workers to grow cotton. Miners extracting copper for metal studs. Production: Designers, factory workers( dyeing cotton, sewing) Who are the people that benefit and lose out throughout the whole of the product lifecycle? SHEET 2