Our Addiction to Fossil Fuels

Last week we talked about population growth and the amount of materials we collectively consume. We are all aware of the impending oil crisis, because we see it each week when we fill up at the pump and pay gas prices of almost $4.00/gallon; but what many don’t know is that a lot of the products we use every day are derived from fossil fuels. In my most recentwhite paper, I referenced this list of everyday household products that are petroleum based: http://www.ranken-energy.com/Products%20from%20Petroleum.htm.

If you look at that list closely, hopefully, you notice that many of these products are not recyclable and usually end up in landfills. With this consumption pattern, we are wasting a significant amount of resources and are forced to go to great lengths to locate more sources of petroleum and other fossil fuels. The challenge posed here for sustainability professionals is reframing our economic system to properly utilize life cycle thinking and closed loop design that allows us to reuse these resources in innovative ways.

Another way to look at this is not as a challenge, but as an opportunity. Corporate pioneers in this area have proven that closed loop systems are valuable to an organization, especially when facing fluctuating costs in turbulent raw material markets. A good example is one of our clients, CertainTeed Corporation. The siding division at CertainTeed has set up a system where they take back vinyl siding from consumers at the end of its usable life, grind it up, and blend it into new siding products. In fact, CertainTeed produces the CedarBoards D6 product with up to 73% recycled content. Companies that have created similar systems in the consumer marketplace (i.e. Timberland’s Earthkeepers® 2.0 boots) have also realized decreased materials costs and increased market share. To learn more about Sustainable Product Development (SPD) practices and closed loop products, click here.

 – Tad Radzinski, PE, LEED AP, SFP