Photograph by Megan Seldon, National Geographic What is a life
cycle assessment? A life cycle assessment (LCA) is an attempt to
capture and measure all the carbon emissions associated with a
product from "cradle to grave"—from the sourcing of its raw
materials all the way through its manufacture, use, and
disposal. Why do a life cycle assessment? The purpose of
performing an LCA for a product is to understand where the
carbon emissions in its production come from. Determining as
accurately as possible the total emissions associated with the
creation, use, and disposal of a product helps to identify where
carbon reduction is needed most urgently or would be most
effective. The life cycle assessment of National Geographic
magazine: The National Geographic Society initiated an LCA on
the National Geographic magazine (NGM) late in 2008, completing
the study in June 2009. The goal was to identify the carbon
emissions of creating the magazine content, as well as the
emissions of our supply chain of vendors and serv