The title of this lesson is taken from a book that we recommend, Ecological Intelligence by Daniel Goleman (Broadway Books, 2009). Goleman is the author of Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence which were both best sellers that explained and operationalized concepts of “people skills”. In this book  Goleman has again taken a complex idea and explained it in a “user-friendly” way. The subtitle of the book reflects the theme of the book:  “How knowing the hidden impacts of what we buy can change everything.”

Goleman defines ecological intelligence as, “our ability to adapt to our ecological niche…. Ecological intelligence lets us apply what we learn about how human activity impinges on ecosystems so as to do less harm and once again to live sustainably in our niche – these days the entire planet.” (Goleman, Ecological Intelligence, pg 43)

Goleman’s key point is (a) that all products we buy have a hidden ecological price tag, and (b) that consumers can have a significant ecological and economic impact by becoming aware of the ecological impacts of their buying decisions. The measure that we need to know is “embedded carbon, which represents the CO2 per kilogram released in manufacturing, transport, use and disposal of a product.” (Ibid, pg 58)  In other words, we should know the full carbon footprint of a product. Goleman calls this kind of information radical transparency. As he says, “Radical transparency has the power to reinvent the marketplace as an arena for optimal information and decision making.” (Ibid, pg 82)

If we demand and use good information, we can make better decisions. So, why isn’t this happening now? As Goleman reminds us, we are, indeed, creatures of habit. Our brains are constructed to be efficient – and that means following known paths. In order to change, we have to be willing to do things differently and, in the short term, be a little uncomfortable. In other words, don’t just buy what you always have bought. Insist that you get information about the ecological effects of the product – the manufacturing process as well as more hidden processes, such as the transportation costs.

One fun example he uses is that sometimes a bottle of wine from France has a smaller carbon footprint than a bottle of wine from California.  If the French wine was brought to your store on a ship, that created a much smaller footprint than the plane which brought the bottle from California.  Of course there are other factors: such as where you live.  But, it is an interesting example to get one thinking.

Goleman cites a survey of twenty-five thousand customers by Marks and Spencer, a British retail giant. Here is what they found:

• About a quarter of shoppers are just not interested in whether a product is ecology friendly or not.
• Two-thirds of shoppers do care about ethical choices – but they want the decision to be easy or they don’t think their shopping preferences can make a difference.

Goleman’s conclusion is: “Radical transparency target that two-thirds by making ethical choices easier, offering a shopper relevant data in a neat summary.” (Pg 120) The point of his book is that people can make a difference in the marketplace because companies will do what large numbers of customers want. It isn’t idealistic pie-in-the-sky thinking; Goleman discusses examples of situations where this is happening now.

Goleman’s premise of radical transparency has two key applications. First, is the individual focus: customers need to be educated and motivated demand and use product information. Second, manufacturing companies must be able to comply with that demand that the full carbon footprint (“embedded carbon”) of products be identified and made public. Goleman focuses on the first point.

But what about the second point? How does a well-intentioned, strategic company actually get the carbon footprint information for their products? Well, you probably won’t be surprised to find that a lot of companies are working on that right now. This is, many observers have said, the key business issue of the decade and how well businesses respond will likely be a major factor in their ongoing success. This is, also, a new area for trained business sustainability consultants.

What businesses need are an overall sustainability plan and a specific impact assessment. Both of these are needed but people can often get confused about the difference. There are a number of books and consultants that can help with this but one book that we highly recommend is The Step-by-Step Guide to Sustainability Planning, by Hitchcock and Willard (Earthscan Publishers, 2008).

Their explanation of the difference is a wonderful analogy. Your sustainability assessment can be compared to your annual physical with your physician. A general review is done with recommendations for what should be looked at in more depth. Identify your strengths, weaknesses and areas where you need specific measurable information. The impact assessment uses specific tools and metrics to objectively gather and analyze the actual carbon data.

The overall process recommended by Hitchcock and Willard has six steps.
1- Establish the business case for pursuing sustainability.
2- Chose a sustainability framework (your own specific definition of what sustainability means)
3- Conduct an impacts assessment to identify what you do that relates to sustainability and identify priority areas to work on.
4- Identify a set of metrics to track your progress, define the fully sustainable end-point, and gather baseline data on your current state.
5- Develop an implementation strategy and identify projects that will help you reach the sustainable state and then array them into a long-range plan.
6- Build the support systems necessary to achieve your plan. (Ibid, pg. xxii)

Most companies work with a consultant or a trained internal person to head this process. Our parent company, EcoAid, works with a number of clients to do a carbon footprint assessment (sometimes called “carbon labeling”). It can be a very complex process because it doesn’t just involve the actual manufacturing process of a product, but the way the raw materials were gathered and transported to the manufacturing plant, how the finished product was transported to the selling location, the heating and cooling of the various facilities, the amount of paper used in the management of the manufacturing, etc. There are assessment tools available but one needs to know what to use and how.

So, how do we become ecologically intelligent? The easy answer is by getting more information. The harder part is using that information to make a difference in what we do – as individual consumers, as businesses that manufacture or transport products, or even as service organizations. We all have ignored the environmental price tag of what our “stuff and processes” cost. As with all bills, someone is eventually going to have to pay.

Step 1: Read

Pocket Idiot’s Guide to Your Carbon Footprint, Chapters  5 & 6

Step 2: Watch

Here is a video of Daniel Goleman being interviewed by Bill Moyers. Moyers is one of the most intelligent yet down-to-earth interviewers you’ll ever see. It is a wonderful, in-depth discussion that I think you will enjoy a lot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou77QKwoPUY&feature=player_embedded#

Step 3: Application

Application – Lesson 12: Sustainability Impact Assessment

A – What To Do

For this Application, identify two purchases you have made recently – ideally one big purchase (furniture, appliance) and one small (such as food). Then, you are going to create a theoretical impact assessment. Go through the life cycle of the product and identify the places and processes needed to get that product into your home. List each juncture at which one could measure the hidden carbon impact of the product.

Here’s a simple example. For a loaf of bread that I recently bought, some of the behind the scenes processes that were necessary are: fertilizer for the farming lands where the wheat was grown; energy to fuel the machinery that plowed the land and that help cut the grown wheat; transportation to get the fresh wheat to a processing area; heating/cooling in the processing area as well as electricity to fuel machinery that turns raw wheat into bread; transportation from the production site to the market where it was sold; heating/cooling of the market store; transportation for the workers in the market store; transportation for me to get to the store and get back home; electricity needed to freeze half the loaf; materials and processes needed to create the plastic bags to keep the bread in.

Amazing when you start thinking this through, isn’t it!!

Remember, this is a theoretical assessment, you do not have to do heavy research to identify each step: just try and make it a thinking exercise.

B – Format & Sending Info

Use a standard Word document. The format is simple: identify the URL, clarify the source, then write your summary.
Please send your review as an attachment to an email to me. Remember to put your name and the title, Application- 12 – on both your email and the attachment itself.
My email address is: cps@ecoaidnow.com

C – Notes On How It Will Be ‘Scored’

There is no correct or incorrect information for this Application. The focus is on you doing some creative thinking to identify a variety of “hidden steps” that are behind the products that you buy.
Following are the criteria for this application:
a) Did you identify a number of relevant factors?
b) Is your discussion internally coherent?

As you know, your work is evaluated on a “pass-no pass” system. If there is a problem, you have a second chance to complete the Application correctly.

Step 4: Quiz

When you are ready you can download the short multiple-choice quiz for this lesson. The quiz will cover the material in this lesson, including the video. You may, of course, use all of the materials and notes that you have created for the quiz.
Download the quiz by clicking on this link: Quiz
Complete the quiz which is an online form then send it to me as an email attachment.
Please identify your email as Quiz 12.
Reminder: my email address is: cps@ecoaidnow.com

GRADING

The quiz will be scored as pass or no-pass – and you need to get all of the questions right to pass. HOWEVER, you can take (and retake) the quiz as many times as you need to get your passing grade. Again, you can, of course, use all of the notes and materials you have.
We call it a “success quiz” because we believe that, after you have completed all of the work of this Lesson, you will find the quiz to be reasonably easy for you. In other words, we want this quiz to be a mirror of your positive learning success.

Congratulations!!  You have completed Lesson 12

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© 2009 EcoAid LLC