SustainabilitY
March 16, 2008 by John Morelli and Frances | Filed under: Sustainability Labeling and Consumer Education [1,2]
Here is how I visualized it: Sustainability Y Doesn’t something like this exist?
Role of the Environmental Manager
The world is rapidly changing.
As an environmental manager, we must define and redefine ourselves continually to remain relevant, to improve the quality of life, and to ensure our future's sustainability.
Collaboratory
[1], [4] discussed at the RIT Symposium.
[2] discussed in Budapest, Hungary.
[3] discussed in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
- Presentations
- Research Category Descriptions
- RESEARCH CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGER QUALIFICATIONS AND CREDENTIALING
- RESEARCH CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT
- RESEARCH CATEGORY: THE ROLE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGER
- In the host community [1, 4]
- In the industry and in the workplace [1, 2, 3]
- Job Crafting in Action [1]
- Regarding Social Responsibility [1, 2, 4]
- The EM as an Environmental Sales person/Educator
- The EM as an Industrial Ecologist [1]
- The EM Role in Environmental Justice
- The EM Role in Greening Transportation
- The Goal of the Environmental Manager [1, 2, 3, 4]
- RESEARCH CATEGORY: TOOLS FOR SUSTAINABILITY
- Effectiveness of Environmental Management Systems [2,3]
- Environmental Valuation and Accounting [1]
- Evaluation of Natural Resources
- Impact of the Wal-Mart Sustainability Scorecard [1]
- Integrating EHS Management into Organizational Excellence [4]
- Life-Cycle-Analysis (LCA) [1], [4]
- Multiple-Bottom-Line Thinking [4]
- Paying for Sustainability [4]
- Sustainability Labeling and Consumer Education [1,2]
- Sustainability Reporting as a Lever for Action
- Sustainable Resource Use
- Using Strategic Business to Maximize the Benefits of ISO 14001 [4]
- Using Your EMS to Move Toward Sustainability [4]
- RESEARCH CATEGORY: UNDERSTANDING UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS
- Eco-Services and Business: Implications for Environmental Strategy [4]
- From Eco-Efficiency to Eco-Effectiveness [1,2]
- Generating Sustainability Innovation [4]
- Growth vs. Development
- Industrialized vs Developing Economies
- Moving from Eco-Marketing to Sustainable Consumption [4]
- Purpose of Business and the Role of the Corporation
- The Role of Environmental Ethics in Decision-making
Looking at this diagram it made me think of something. I read the article (*great article*) you posted, Lisa, and it made the distinction of labels that were meant to signify conformance to an ideal and labels that were meant to signify conformance to the bottom line “to avoid ills.” So when I was thinking of sustainability label I was thinking of a label to signify conformance to the ideal. But a label like what you’ve posted here, John, could be used in both ways since a product with little environmental, social, economic benefit would just have a dot in the middle of the triangle and a product that excelled would form the upside down ‘Y.’
So I guess that then leads to the question of should we be creating a label that we envision to be on every product and would have to be required by the government or a label that is voluntary and only given to those worthy enough?
This whole time I was thinking the voluntary route, but after looking at a diagram like this, it would be cool to walk into a store and have a standard label for every single product that I could then compare based on the three criteria. I think that would be a very powerful method of educating the consumer since the label and the ideals behind the label would be everywhere- not just in the organic aisles in the supermarket or the LOHAS-targeted product blogs. Every consumer would be given the opportunity to consider those categories before making a purchase.
Or maybe this is what you all were thinking of the whole time, and I’m just a little slow on the uptake