The Quiet Field of Industrial Ecology

As mentioned in a previous VES blog, Cultivating Ecological Intelligence, industrial ecology is the study of complex industrial systems and their impacts on the natural world. Globally dispersed and interlocking, industrial systems exist in virtually every corner of the planet. Impacts on ecological systems resulting from industrial activity range from the painfully obvious to the unseen, yet no less damaging. Air and water quality, species biodiversity, climate change, and a range of other impacts result from industrial activity.

Western cultures tend to be disconnected from the realities of the products we buy. Industrial activity is required to manufacture everything from your facial moisturizer to your favorite cooking pan to your lawn mower, and everything in between and beyond. The world’s poorest communities, in places most of us will never know to exist, are generally the most heavily impacted. Industrial ecologists seek to study these wide-ranging impacts and work with industries to implement responsible environmental practices.

As defined by Daniel Goleman, industrial ecology “exists at the cusp where chemistry, physics, and engineering meet ecology, and integrates those fields to quantify the impacts on nature of manmade things.” Researchers in this field must also consider varying regional social, political, economic, and regulatory factors when examining how industrial systems impact ecological systems. Different factors in different regions impact how industry exists and the degree to which improvements can be made. Every stage in the manufacture of a manmade item, from the extraction of resources to the transportation of the finished product, to its use and subsequent disposal, is examined through industrial ecology. Considering all these stages and the range of complex factors relevant to industrial systems, not to mention the global scale of industry, it is an enormous task.

Industrial ecologists use tools such as life cycle assessment (LCA) and material and energy flow analysis (MEFA) to determine the ecological damage resulting from a product’s existence. LCA examines the impacts resulting from every stage of a product’s existence and the resources required for its manufacture. MEFA examines the materials and energy required at each stage. Industrial ecologists then use their findings to develop ways for industry to co-exist with the ecological systems in which it operates by working with corporations to implement ecologically responsible policies and practices. In so doing, industrial ecologists work to establish an industrial synergy that simulates the natural efficiency of ecological systems.

The amount of information gathered by industrial ecologists is vast. One way industrial ecologists have put their research to good use is by working with other professionals, such as developers, to find ways to share information with consumers, another enormous task. Yet by sharing this information with consumers, a great deal of power to influence industry is transferred into the hands of consumers. Goleman refers to this transference of information and power to consumers as radical transparency. The next VES blog will discuss radical transparency, the tools used to share information, and how dramatically it can impact consumer behavior.