Last week’s data postcard to Jon explored the cummulative impacts embodied in products we buy and use.

flow of materials and processes for an imagined product, alongside the embodied impacts accumulated at each step

The things we do, the things we buy and use, embody the impacts of all the materials and processes that go into making them, selling them, and getting them to you. This includes all of the the extraction, biosphere destruction, energy, waste, and social impacts of each raw material, each step of manufacturing, assembly, distribution, retail, and your use of it. You see a bottle of laundry detergent with a bright label, and so many doses of a useful coctail of chemicals that do a job for you. Before you even start to use it, picking up that bottle sends a message of approval back through the supply chains that this is OK, signalling to do more of the same. We are made to feel responsible for the recycling of containers, for the product choices we make and the consequences of our uses. And so we are, but not in a way that absolves all the processes and design decisions that got us to the point where we make (what appears to be a quite limited) choice, and where most of the true impacts are hidden and not compensated for in the price. We are here to show you what these hidden impacts and consequences are, to show you how to really use your consumer voice, and use your choices to send different signals back. This is truly your responsibility, and an underused power to change the economy. But in the meantime, please recycle.

DW