Earlier this month on Public Radio International’s daily program The World, reporter Murray Carpenter highlighted “some of the new technologies that help consumers trace the global journey of their purchases and calculate their environmental cost.” If companies are going to argue their products are truly green, there needs to be independent verification. Greenwashing (making specious claims about the environmental impact of a product) and lifecycle analysis (a full accounting the energy consumed and materials involved over the entire lifetime of a product) are two topics gaining increased exposure in the upcoming regenerative economy.

For consumers to make informed decisions about the products they purchase, there must be transparency in the process of manufacturing. Companies such as Patagonia and Dole were highlighted in Carpenter’s story. Patagonia has developed a website called The Footprint Chronicles that details the origins of the materials used in their clothing. Beholden to their mission, “Build the best products and cause no unnecessary harm,” the company currently has 17 of their products on the site. Patagonia points out that “there is no such thing as a sustainable business but everyday we take steps to lighten our footprint and do less harm.”

The suggestion that “there is no such thing as a sustainable business” leaves room for debate. Regenerative, cradle-to-cradle businesses work to replace what they take. Companies like Interface, Inc still have a long way to go, but have made strides. Using the phrase “unnecessary harm” in their mission statement may be vague, but lends insight into why Patagonia believes that sustainable business does not exist.

For an mp3 of the story, click here.

Here are several of the websites mentioned in the story.

http://www.patagonia.com/web/us/footprint/
http://www.sourcemap.org/
http://www.ceres.org/
http://www.loveearthinfo.com/
http://www.doleorganic.com/
http://www.timberland.com/corp/index.jsp?page=csr_strategy

https://www.cdproject.net/

- Eric Wilson