Sustainability History Project

A program on National Public Radio’s (NPR) Talk of the Nation program the other day has provided me a useful opportunity to compose a brief post about various certification systems that attempt to (or purport to) quantify “sustainability.” This particular program asked “Does The ‘Energy Star’ Label Need An Update?“:

A review in Consumer Reports says it’s good news so many products have become energy efficient but calls for strengthening Energy Star standards to guide consumers to truly efficient products.

(This article is summarized here and recommends five important measures to improve the program.)

The NPR program got me thinking about a recurrent set of questions in the Sustainability History Project courses: How is sustainability quantified, tracked, and evaluated? Who sets the standards? How are standards applied and modified? What is the difference between measurable attempts to become sustainable and “greenwashing?”

There are many for-profit, non-profit, and governmental organizations attempting to establish quantitative credentialing and certification programs for various aspects of environmental, economic, and equity-based sustainability. I recently created a new link category in the side bar titled “Quantifying Sustainability” in which I’ve begun to list these efforts. I also link to a few programs and discussions below, and welcome any other links and references in the comments section of this post so that I can add them to this website.

Dr. Norbert Schmitz wrote an article for the World Bioenergy Association asserting that “Certification is the key for sustainability“:

Creating a workable, internationally applicable system for sustainability certification is vital to promoting public acceptance and a functioning market for biofuels.

Cheyenne Chapman wrote an article on the Oregon State Bar’s Sustainable Future Section titled “Signaling Sustainability Through Eco-Certifications“:

An industrial sector trade association recently created a confidential work group to assist industry (suppliers, brands, retail, media, and consumers) to achieve practical awareness of relevant existing and emerging legislation, standards, labels and frameworks related to chemical and product safety, and environmental performance. Why? Because there are hundreds of labels purporting to guarantee that a product is “green” or sustainable but many are unverified claims.

NPR’s All Things Considered ran a series in summer 2009 titled “How Green Is It?“:

Messages abound telling you to do your part to prevent climate change and to save the environment. Turn off the lights, drive clean cars, buy Earth-friendly products — those are just a few of the things we hear and read about. But how do we know if what we’re doing really has the impact on the environment we think it does? Are we making the best choices? And are we being fully informed about the costs and downsides?

The series included segments on green cars, reusable shopping bags, alternate power sourcs, replacement windows, and the Energy Star program.

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