Similarly, one needs to include inputsĪnd outputs for packaging the cup for shipment to the store, the trip The trees and machinery to make the pulp, and the forestry practices Identify the inputs, such as pulp, water, and dyes to make the paper, LCA can currently be performed 2 ways: 1) Process-based or 2) economic input-output based.
A free economic input-output LCA is available via the Green Design Institute at Carnegie Mellon. Alternative (other-than-process-based) methods of calculating net product impact can provide quick, cost effective, and yet comprehensive life-cycle assessments. Please consider using an economic input-output model. You can either deal with a free but limited subset of the data and invest time, or invest money, perhaps in a simpler tool. TL DR: There's a reason LCA tools cost money, and it's because it requires a lot of time and effort to generate the underlying data. One sidenote is that assessing the social impacts of products/processes is something that's still very much in basic research. It's aimed at designers and iteration, so it might not be ideal. That won't fulfill the 'easy' part right away, but some Python or Excel macros would likely make it pretty functional for everyday use.Īn alternative might be something like Sustainable Minds, which is not free, but is designed to be very easy to use. That being said, some of the raw data is free - the US LCI database is, and can be combined with LCIA tools like ReCiPe in Excel to get 'interpretable' impacts like GHG emissions. That's why the products are expensive, often have high learning curves, and why people take multiple semester course sequences to learn about LCA. These factors merit a need for time investment to generate the data, standardize it, and develop tools for using it. One if the issues with LCA is that it's very data intensive, and that generic products/processes can be subject to a lot of uncertainty.
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