Is that reusable bag your toting really better than the plastic bags you get at the grocery store? Is your ultra-hip stainless steel bottle really helping the environment more than using plastic water bottles?

There has been a lot of buzz lately about a new book by Daniel Goleman called Ecological Intelligence: How Knowning the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything which explores these questions. In the book, Daniel Goleman explores the life cycle of everyday products to determine what the best option is. The LCA, Life Cycle Assessment, can tell us if it's better for the environment to shop locally or to shop at one store even if that means buying products that have been imported. How does it work? Well, this assessment tool looks at the impact of products from the time the ingredients are extracted from the earth to the time it lands in your hand. For example, the creation of a glass bottle requires 1,959 individual steps from the time it is created to the time it ends up in a landfill. At each of these steps there is energy used, waste produced, and potential long term impacts that many of us don't really think about when we buy a Snapple. I haven't read it yet, but this book sounds extremely fascinating! Check out an excerpt here. If you like it, buy it, and when you're done with it, pass it on to a friend (recycling and education all in one!).

In addition to the book, LCA is slowly being adopted by large companies to examine the footprints of their industrial processes. Check out one of these applications at Earthster.

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Help the environment and yourself - buy a keg and ask friends to bring their own reusable cups to reduce waste!