PROJECT: Life-Cycle Analysis



APES PROJECT: Life-Cycle Analysis DUE DATE: Friday, March 7th, 2014

To get a better understanding of the environmental impact of processed food, it is becoming increasingly common to perform a life-cycle assessments (LCA). This involves gauging the environmental effect of each step in a product’s life cycle, from obtaining the raw materials for its manufacture and processing, to distribution, to use, and disposal (see figures below).

Relevant: In this project, you will choose one food product and carry out a simplified life-cycle analysis. (Full LCAs run to 100s of pages and require access to lots of specialized data, such as the amount of energy spent transporting raw materials to the factory). Each box below represents a step in the life cycle of a typical food product. To understand the environmental impact of a product, research each step of its life cycle as represented by the boxes below.

Deliverable: Produce a 11 x 17 life-cycle analysis poster of a product. You may draw it by hand or electronically. Cite sources on back in MLA format.

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Based on Sound Science: Following are some web sites that explain and illustrate LCA



An overview of LCA with numerous links. Start here.



This site gives a step-by-step comparison of paper bags and plastic bags.



First chapter of an EPA report, giving an overview of LCA.



Example of a super cool poster! See back.

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Measurable: Rubric

| |Points possible |Points earned |

|Breadth of coverage: were you able to uncover information from most of the stages and inputs | | |

|and outputs in the figure above? |30 | |

|Depth of your research and Accuracy: did you uncover interesting material about your product? | | |

|Did you probe deeply into at least a couple of aspects of the life cycle (as opposed to just |50 | |

|glossing over the surface)? Do your claims make sense? Do you repeat suspect statistics or | | |

|fact-check them? | | |

|Professionalism of your presentation: Does it exhibit clarity and a seriousness of purpose? Is | 20 | |

|it attractive? | | |

| | | |

|Total: |100 | |

Attainable: Due March 7th, 2014.

Tip: Do not underestimate the time it will take to go this!

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The diagram to the left is a way of representing the stages of a product’s life cycle. For this project, you should report on the different stages of your product’s life cycle. Some information may be hard to obtain; some stages may make relatively little contribution. Try to emphasize the most important contributors to a product’s environmental impact.

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