An Introduction to

Sustainability

Chapter 12

MCQs

Annotated Bibliography

  1. Bauman, Henrikke and Anne-Marie Tillman, 2004, The Hitch-Hikers Guide to Life Cycle Analysis: An Orientation to Life Cycle Analysis Methodology and Application, Lund: Studentliteratur.

    It is easy to get lost in the vast literature on Life Cycle Analysis, but the textbook author has selected this text by academics based in The Netherlands and Sweden as the most comprehensive and accessible guide.

  2. Kopnina, Helen and Eleanor Shoreman-Ouimet (eds) 2015, Sustainability: Key issues, Abingdon: Earthscan/Routledge

    Three chapters by various authors in Part !! of this book review a range of sustainability measuring and assessment tools.

  3. Boardman, Anthony, David Greenberg, Aidan Vining and David Weimer, 2010, 4th edition, Cost-benefit analysis: Concepts and practice, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

    As with Life Cycle Analysis, there are many texts about Cost Benefit Analysis. The text by Boardman et al. is pitched at undergraduate students and is widely used.

  4. Crewe, Louise, 2004, ‘Unravelling fashion’s commodity chains’ in Alex Hughes and Suanne Reimer (eds) Geographies of Commodity Chains, London: Routledge, pp 195-214.

    This chapter by Louise Crewe shows what can be revealed by conducting research on the component parts of an item of clothing on sale in an English fashion shop.

  5. Kern, Kathleen, 2007, ‘The Human Cost of Cheap Cell Phones’ in Stephen Hiatt (ed) A Game as Old as Empire: The Secret World of Economic Hit Men and the Web of Global Corruption, San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, pp 93-112.

    This rather disturbing book chapter by Kathleen Kern shows how a growing market for rare minerals used in cell phones and other electronic devices helped fuel war and violence in the Congo.

  6. Thomas, Ian and Paul Murfitt, 2011, 2nd edition, Environmental Management: Processes and Practices for Australia, Sydney: Federation Press.

    With decades of experience in teaching environmental policy and environmental management at RMIT University, Ian Thomas worked with experienced environmental management practitioner Paul Murfitt to produce this cutting edge textbook. It examines Australian practice in the context of global trends and ideas.

  7. McDonough, William and Michael Braungart, 2002, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, New York: North Point Press.

    US architect William McDonough teamed up with German chemist and foundation member of the German Greens Michael Braungart to write this highly influential book calling for another ‘industrial revolution’ aimed at closing the circle between production and waste disposal.

  8. Woolcock, Michael, 2009, Towards a Plurality of Methods in Project Evaluation: A Contextualised Approach to Understanding Impact Trajectories and Efficacy, Manchester: Brooks World Poverty Institute, University of Manchester.

    Michael Woolcock enjoys the rare distinction of being a social scientist working in the World Bank’s Development Research Group while he also teaches public policy at Harvard University. In this book he argues that projects need to be evaluated in terms of the ‘internal validity’ rather than according to some externally established criteria.

Annotated Links to Further Web Resources

  1. Global Footprint Network

    www.footprintnetwork.org

    With offices in several countries, the Global Footprint Network promotes the use of footprint calculators as a way of achieving environmental sustainability. It offers advice on the use of personal, city, national and global calculators and provides links to organisations working with footprint calculators in particular countries. Carbon footprint calculators have been added to the earlier ecological footprint calculators.

  2. US Environmental Protection Authority

    http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/std/lca/lca.html

    The US EPA offers advice and resources for people wanting to work with Life Cycle Analysis. The emphasis here is on environmental impacts of production and disposal rather than both environmental and social impacts.

  3. European Platform on Life Cycle Analysis

    http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ipp/lca.htm

    The European Commission of the European Union promotes the use of LCA as the best available framework for assessing potential environmental impacts of production. As with US EPA, the focus is on environmental impacts.

  4. Australian Life Cycle Analysis Society

    www.alcas.asn.au

    This is the website of a non-profit peak body formed in 2001 to help people interested in the use of LCA. Once again, it focuses on environmental impacts rather than both environmental and social.

  5. CBA Builder

    http://www.cbabuilder.co.uk/

    CBA Builder is a free interactive web-based resource for people interested in teaching or using Cost Benefit Analysis.

  6. Sourcemap

    sourcemap.com

    This is a user-friendly sign-up website that enables the user to track the supply chains for a designated product. It is a good learning tool, although it needs to be remembered that the information provided is not rigorously tested for accuracy.

  7. Free2work

    www.free2work.org

    This website aims to help consumers avoid products that have been made by forced child labour or modern-day slavery.

  8. Ship Finder

    http://www.shipfinder.com/

    This is a website that enables the user to track the movement of ships anywhere in the world in real time. It has a mapping device that enables the user to look at any part of the world, and you can zoom in to get information about each ship. This helps track the movement of goods and materials around the planet.

Annotated Links to Video Clips

  1. Ecological footprint: Do we fit our planet?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_aguo7V0Q4

    Duration: 6:16

    A well-produced introduction to the principles of ecological footprints using animated illustrations.

  2. The Ecological Footprint: Accounting for a Small Planet

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjyrAHzthTo

    Duration: 2:67

    This is an introduction to ecological footprints featuring Mathis Wackernagel, the originator of the concept and Executive Director of the Global Footprint Network.

  3. Introduction to Design for Lifetime

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imapZr8d1RI

    Duration: 4:17

    A very well-produced introduction to how Life Cycle Analysis can be used to expand the lifetime of products and maximise recycling. Pitched at companies wanting to operate sustainably with an emphasis on environmental impacts.

  4. Life Cycle Analysis in Six Minute Crash Course

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D55PVhdMA8o

    Duration: 6:11

    A well-produced introduction to LCA with an emphasis on understanding and mitigating the environmental impacts of production.

  5. Life Cycle Assessment as part of Strategic Sustainability for Product Design

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGhoInz-VUs

    Duration: 3:09

    A presentation which uses animation to introduce the use of LCA for designing products with minimal environmental impacts. This is from the same presenter as the Six Minutes Crash Course video.

  6. Introduction to Cost-Benefit Analysis

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tdKkeNClPE

    Duration: 4:25

    An excellent, well-produced introduction to Cost Benefit Analysis, moving from financial considerations to social and environmental impacts.

  7. Cradle2Cradle

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jORau0V62c

    A well-produced presentation on the rationale for, and key ideas within, the work of McDonough and Braungart on cradle to cradle design.

  8. Gugler goes Cradle to Cradle

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIrvWVcb4E8

    Duration: 3:52

    A cleverly animated presentation showing how and why an Austrian company used cradle to cradle principles to redesign the production of paper.

  9. Cradle to cradle design, William McDonough

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jORau0V62c

    Duration: 21:55

    A TED talk by one of the co-creators of the concept of cradle to cradle design.

  10. I, Pencil

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYO3tOqDISE

    Duration: 6:32

    This popular 2012 video examines the components that go into the making of an apparently simple graphite pencil. This is a very well made video about global supply chains which also looks at the history of a taken-for-granted product.