Placing carbon footprint labels on consumable products are a growing trend.  In fact in the UK, Tesco, a large supermarket chain, plans to put these labels on all of their 70,000 products.  Is this a fad or are carbon footprint labels here to stay?

Carbon footprint labels started in 2007.  They first appeared on potato chips of all things… The label was of a black footprint (a carbon footprint) and a number representing the # of grams of carbon each potato back “cost” the earth.

The problem of measuring the carbon footprint associated with consumer goods is that everyone seems to be measuring differently.  Should they include the manufacturing process, the consumer behavior with the product, the long supply chains to get the products to consumers… etc???  There are literally thousands of questions that need be answered before these carbon footprint labels really mean anything.  That being said, I am glad that we now have a focal point where we will begin to ask these questions.

So are carbon footprint labels here to stay?  You bet they are… They are not perfect but their very existence will act as a catalyst for businesses asking themselves tough questions as they decide where to locate factories or which material to use.

About the Author: deohako

Chris Anderson is a Systems Thinker living in Austin, TX. He has worked as a consultant for several Financial, Government and Manufacturing organizations across North America, Europe, and Asia.