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The secret life of an everyday product (activity 5)

Purchases, such as food, clothing, furniture or electrical goods, have an environmental, an economic and a social impact. To better understand the life cycle of an everyday product you should investigate each stage of the product's life cycle by asking a number of key questions.

The questions are divided into four key stages of a product's life cycle:

Raw materials and Production stage

  1. What is the country of a) production of the raw materials, b) manufacture?
  2. What laws does the country of origin have regarding the use of pesticides, safety regulations for workers, wages, and conditions for workers? (Buying locally gives you more knowledge to be able to answer these questions)
  3. What is the brand name? Has the company a good or bad record internationally?
  4. How much energy has been used to manufacture the product or its container?
  5. What chemicals and processes are used in the manufacturing or growing of the product or its container that could damage the workers or the environment?
  6. Are timber products from native rainforest?
  7. If the product is from animals are they well cared for?
  8. Have animals been used in the testing of the product?

Transport and Retailing stage

  1. How much fuel has been used to transport the product to the retail outlet?
  2. Can you take your own bags and containers with you and buy in bulk rather than pre-packaged?
  3. Does your retail outlet have a good employment policy for its workers?
  4. How far do you travel to your retail outlet?

Consumption and Use stage

  1. If the product goes into the drainage system will it eventually harm the waterways?
  2. Is the product an energy efficient one?
  3. Is the product harmful to you or your family's health?

Disposal and Waste stage

  1. Is the product over-packaged?
  2. Is the product or packaging able to be re-used, composted, recycled?
  3. Will the packaging be harmful to animals or the environment if left lying around?

Questions sourced from the UNESCO Education Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable Future website - www.unesco.org/education/tlsf. More information about product life cycle can be obtained from this website. From the link provided, select Sustainable Development Across the Curriculum, then Consumer education, and then Activity 6 What is Sustainable consumption?

Activity

  1. Choose a product that you would like to buy – it could be food, an item of clothing, a piece of furniture, a CD or an electrical appliance.
  2. Construct a life cycle flow chart for the product taking into account the four stages.
  3. Try to find out the answer to each of the 18 questions above and include the information in your flow chart.

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